Zihvaxy  of  t:he  trheolo^icd  ^tminavy 

PRINCETON  •  NEW  JERSEY 


PRESENTED  BY 

The  Estate  of  the 
Rev.  John  B,  Wieclinger 

BV  4501  .B6  1912  ^ 

Black,  Samuel  Charles,  1869 

1921. 
Progress  in  Christian 

culture 


APR    --     ■   ^ 


PROGRESS    IN 
CHRISTIAN   CULTURE 

BY 

Samuel  Charles'^ lack,  D.  D. 

Pastor  Collingwood  Avenue  Presbyterian 
Church,  Toledo,  Ohio 

Author  of 

"Plain  Answers  to  Religious  Questions 
Modern  Men  Are  Asking" 

"Building  a  Working  Church" 

Etc. 


Philadelphia 

The  Westminster  Press 

1912 


Copyright  1912 

By  the  Trustees  of  the  Presbyterian   Board  of 

Publication  and  Sabbath-School  Work 


TO     THE     HALLOWED     MEMORY     OF     MY 

WHO  GAVE  ME  FIRST  MY  LIFE  AND 
THEN,  BY  PRECEPT  AND  BY  EXAMPLE, 
MY  CLEAREST  AND  BROADEST  CONCEP- 
TION OF  CHRISTIAN  LIVING,  THIS  BOOK 
IS    HUMBLY   AND    GRATEFULLY    DEDICATED 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 


PROGRESS  IN  CHRISTIAN  CULTURE 

CHAP.  PAGE 

1.  BY  SELF-EXAMINATION  AND   CORRECTION  9 

2.  BY  BIBLE  STUDY 24 

3.  BY  PRAYER 39 

4.  BY  SACRIFICE 55 

5.  BY  SERVICE 70 

6.  BY  SELF-CONTROL 83 

7.  BY  FORGETTING 100 

8.  BY  REMEMBERING 116 

9.  BY  THOUGHT  AND   MEDITATION 131 

10.  BY  PERSEVERANCE,  EXPERIENCE,  CAUTION, 

HOPE 142 

11.  BY  RESISTING  TEMPTATION 153 

12.  BY  PROPER  SABBATH  OBSERVANCE 167 

13.  BY  DECISION 182 

14.  THE  TIME  LIMIT  ON  CHRISTIAN  PROGRESS  198 


AUTHOR'S  INTRODUCTION 

This  book  bears  a  close  relation  to  'Tlain  An- 
swers to  Religious  Questions  Modern  Men  Are 
Asking."  The  earlier  volume  bore  on  salvation, — • 
how  the  individual  and  his  associates  may  be  saved. 
''Progress  in  Christian  Culture"  bears  on  sanctifica- 
tion, — how  the  saved  Christian  may  acquire  the 
graces  of  his  Lord. 

Christian  Culture  has  never  yet  had  the  attention 
it  must  have  before  the  days  of  ideal  Christianity 
arrive.  We  have  rightly  emphasized  the  vital  nature 
of  redemption.  Many  have  felt  that  the  Christian, 
assured  of  eternal  life  by  his  confession  of  faith  in 
the  Saviour,  could  disregard  lesser  things.  We  do 
not  think  so  to-day.  We  are  insisting  that  Christian 
men  shall  be  Christian  gentlemen  in  the  best  sense 
of  that  old-fashioned  word;  that  they  shall  com- 
mend the  Gospel  they  profess  to  believe  by  the  life 
they  lead. 

Growth  in  grace  comes  in  old-fashioned  ways. 
Soul  culture  comes  not  from  worldly  experiences. 
Bible  Study,  Prayer,  Self-Sacrifice  and  Christian 
Service  are  four  pillars  by  which  the  chaste  structure 
of  Christian  Culture  is  upheld;  they  make  vip  the 
rich  soil  out  of  which  the  blossoming,  fruit-bearing 
tree  of  Christian  Culture  grows.  There  are  other 

7 


AUTHOR'S  INTRODUCTION 

contributing  elements,  many  of  which  I  have 
endeavored  to  set  forth  in  the  following  pages. 

The  active  Christian  should  possess  a  very  attrac- 
tive personality.  Faith  should  make  him  strong. 
Altruism  should  make  him  unselfish.  Self-control 
should  make  him  temperate.  Prayer  should  make 
him  spiritual.  Bible  study  should  give  him  posses- 
sion of  the  best  thoughts  of  God  and  men.  Cer- 
tainty of  eternal  life  should  make  him  happy  in  all 
situations.  The  Christian  who  has  not  these  vir- 
tues should  strive  after  them  continually.  It  is  the 
earnest  hope  of  the  author  that  the  chapters  in  this 
book  will  help. 

Technicalities  have  again  been  avoided.  The  book 
is  for  the  people  who,  in  the  main,  are  not  versed 
in  the  theological  aspects  of  the  subjects  treated  but 
who  wish,  in  all  their  reading,  to  be  well  within  the 
limits  of  orthodoxy. 

In  vision  the  author  beholds  a  church  trans- 
figured by  the  strength  and  beauty  of  our  Lord.  If 
she  is  the  bride  of  the  Lamb,  let  her  put  on  wedding 
garments.  If  sobriety  and  fidelity  are  factors  in  her 
world  conquest,  let  her  know  that  to  acquire  the 
graces  of  Jesus  will  add  infinitely  to  her  drawing 
power.  Paul  knew  the  value  of  this  and  evermore 
admonished  his  spiritual  sons :  *'Be  ye  imitators  of 
me,  even  as  I  also  am  of  Christ."  The  next  for- 
ward step  of  the  church  should  be  in  Christian  Cul- 
ture. S.  C.  B. 

Toledo,  August,   191 2. 
8 


Progress  in   Christian  Culture 


Chapter  One 

PROGRESS  IN  CHRISTIAN  CULTURE:  BY 
SELF-EXAMINATION  AND  CORRECTION 

Every  human  life,  no  matter  what  its  state,  is 
visited  by  frequent  convictions  that  it  is  neither  as 
strong  nor  as^ioble  as  it  ought  to  be  and  that  whole- 
some corrections  are  in  order.  The  frequency  and 
force  of  these  convictions  will  depend  somewhat 
upon  age  and  condition;  they  may  be  entertained 
or  instantly  rejected,  but  they  come,  making  their 
own  silent  appeal  for  better  things. 

Life  is  rarely  one  gradual  rise  from  infancy  to 
age.  It  is  rather  a  succession  of  ascents,  often  rapid 
for  an  hour  or  a  day ;  then  comes  a  long,  level  road- 
way along  which  no  elevation  can  be  discovered. 
Ascents  usually  follow  times  of  careful  self-exami- 
nation. 'Tor  a  man  to  know  his  faults  and  errors," 
says  one,  "is  the  first  step  toward  what  is  better 
and  nobler."     As  the  sight  of  sickness  and  disease 

9 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN   CULTURE 

always  moves  us  to  seek  health,  so  the  consciousness 
of  personal  weakness  or  sin  drives  us  toward 
strength  and  righteousness. 

Self-examination  often  fails  of  beneficial  results 
because  the  examiner  is  sure  to  be  more  generous 
with  himself  than  anybody  else  would  be.  His 
judgment  is  warped  by  his  desires.  He  is  wont  to 
allow  himself  indulgences  which  he  would  deny 
others.  Mohammed  contended  that,  because  of  the 
arduous  labors  he  was  asked  to  perform,  Allah  al- 
lowed him  many  special  indulgences  and  multiplied 
his  powers  of  enjoyment.  The  result  of  this  self- 
favoring  is  seen  in  the  sensuous  and  material 
pleasures  promised  the  faithful  in  the  Moslem  para- 
dise. 

It  is  so  easy  to  persuade  oneself  that  hereditary 
encumbrances  or  enforced  relations  in  society  entitle 
him  to  more  than  the  average  mortal  receives  of 
what  we  are  wont  to  call  "the  good  things  of  this 
world."  A  western  banker — on  trial  for  appro- 
priating a  surplus  to  his  own  use,  when  by  law  it 
belonged  to  a  body  of  stockholders — said  he  believed 
himself  entitled  to  the  money  inasmuch  as  he  had 
built  up  the  business.  Many  a  man,  looking  at  his 
own  life,  has  a  similar  feeling.  He  asks  all  other 
men  to  be  scrupulously  honest,  commendably  pure, 
humble  and  self-effacing,  self-denying  and  filled 
with  brotherly  kindness,  but  because  he  has  built  up 
his  own  fortune,  and  because  of  his  peculiar  circum- 
stances, he  believes  he  is  entitled  to  shade  these  re- 

10 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN   CULTURE 

quirements  noticeably  in  his  own  case.  Deep  down 
in  his  heart  he  knows  this  is  httle  and  mean  and 
he  feels  ashamed,  but  he  keeps  a  bold  front  and  will 
defend  his  selfish  indulgences  with  loud  voice  and 
the  air  of  one  who  is  being  unjustly  persecuted 
by  the  world. 

To  be  of  any  value  self-examination  must  be  car- 
ried on  in  a  spirit  of  absolute  candor.  So  far  as 
possible  the  personal  equation,  and  particularly  the 
selfish  equation,  must  be  eliminated.  While  we 
should  not  be  unjust,  we  should  be  as  exacting  of 
ourselves  as  we  would  be  of  another.  We  should  be 
the  cross-examiner  for  the  prosecution  and  not  the 
favoring  lawyer  for  the  defense.  If  we  are  Chris- 
tians we  should  follow  the  admonition  of  the  great 
poet  and  do  the  work,  ''As  ever  under  our  great 
Taskmaster  V  eye." 

And  now,  if  we  are  ready  to  proceed,  what  shall 
the  examination  cover?  For  purposes  of  clearness 
and  convenience  we  may  divide  the  work  into  two 
or  three  parts,  considering  first  the  question  of  our 
conduct.  By  universal  agreement  we  understand  this 
to  cover  "our  mode  of  performing  our  ordinary  life 
duties  ;  the  character  of  our  relationship  with  others ; 
the  wise  use  of  our  opportunities  for  serving  others ; 
the  proper  occupation  of  our  leisure  hours;  the 
w^orthy  meeting  of  our  life  responsibilities." 

Let  us  imagine  a  man  who  has  been  allowing  his 
life  to  drift  with  the  social  current  of  his  day.  He 
has  been  easy  and  generous  with  himself,  inwardly 

II 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN   CULTURE 

contending,  although  never  openly  stating,  that  he 
believes  he  is  entitled  to  the  best  things  he  can  pro- 
cure. He  works  hard  and  sO'  argues  that  he  has 
a  right  to  exact  a  good  deal  of  others.  The  graces 
of  life  he  has  neglected  to  cultivate,  and  he  is  mag- 
nanimous for  revenue  only.  He  makes  an  occasional 
sacrifice,  but  only  when  it  is  sure  to  be  witnessed 
by  a  large  and  sympathetic  audience. 

Naturally  he  is  not  oversensitive  about  his  per- 
sonal conduct,  and — while  he  lauds  purity  and  per- 
sonal virtue  as  necessary  for  the  safeguarding  .of 
our  moral  and  ethical  standards — he  does  not  allow 
this  to  stand  in  the  way  of  his  own  selfish  desires. 
Such  a  man  is  usually  successful  in  business  and 
therefore  has  money  in  sufficient  quantities  to  sup- 
ply all  his  wants.  His  standing  in  the  community 
is  very  good.  True,  the  prudish  reformers  look  with 
horror  on  some  of  his  selfish  indulgences,  but  that 
is  their  fault  and  not  his.  He  has  never  committed 
murder  and  he  has  committed  theft  only  in  harmony 
with  the  most  approved  twentieth  century  practices. 
He  is  a  healthy,  free-and-easy,  self -gratifying,  God- 
neglecting  sort  of  individual,  such  as  can  be  found 
in  large  numbers  in  every  city. 

If  such  a  man  ever  begins  to  examine  himself 
on  his  own  initiative  he  usually  begins  to  compare 
his  life  with  that  of  other  men  whom  he  knows. 
How  vastly  superior  he  is !  Like  the  Pharisee  in 
the  temple,  he  thanks  God  that  he  is  not  as  other 
men,    extortioners,    blackmailers,    adulterers.      He 

12 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

pays  his  bills  regularly,  never  fails  to  vote  as  his 
party  managers  dictate  and  talks  much  of  patriotism. 
While  he  does  not  follow  the  outgrown  custom  of 
fasting  twice  in  the  week  or  paying  tithes  of  all 
he  possesses,  he  is  careful  about  what  he  eats  lest 
he  suffer  from  ptomaine  poisoning,  and  he  does  not 
gormandize  for  fear  of  the  gout!  Altogether  he  is 
a  most  commendable  fellow  whom  God  should  be 
very  glad  and  proud  to  have  among  his  creatures  in 
this  runaway  world ! 

The  first  mistake  this  man  makes  is  clear :  he  has 
compared  his  conduct  with  that  of  other  men,  and 
they  not  the  best  that  could  be  found,  instead  of 
with  the  great  Example  whom  God  sent  as  the 
standard  for  all  lives.  Any  standard  lower  than 
the  life  of  Jesus  is  sure  to  be  faulty  and  lead  us  into 
error.  He  is  the  only  model  the  sculptor  of  life 
dares  to  follow.  Follow  his  faith,  his  conduct,  his 
spirit  of  helpfulness  and  sacrifice,  and  your  life 
will  be  as  God  wants  it  to  be;  follow  those  of  other 
men  and  it  is  sure  to  fail. 

But  the  second  mistake  this  man  makes  is  quite 
as  bad :  it  is  the  spirit  in  which  his  self-examination, 
or  rather  his  comparison  of  self  with  other  men,  is 
made.  He  has  been  a  biased  witness ;  he  started 
out  to  acquit  himself  and  he  gloriously  succeeded. 
When  the  prodigal  son  came  to  himself  in  the  far 
country  it  was  to  cry  out,  "Father,  I  have  sinned 
against  heaven,  and  in  thy  sight :   I  am  no  more 

13 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN   CULTURE 

worthy  to  be  called  thy  son."     It  was  the  great, 
generous-hearted  father  who  acquitted  him. 

When  David  was  driven  to  self-examination  he 
began: 

Have  mercy  upon  me,  O  God,  according  to  thy  loving- 
kindness  : 

According  to  the  multitude  of  thy  tender  mercies  blot  out 
my  transgressions. 

Wash  me  thoroughly  from  mine  iniquity, 

And  cleanse  me  from  my  sin. 

For  I  know^  my  transgressions; 

And  my  sin  is  ever  before  me.    .     .     . 

Purify  me  with  hyssop,  and  I  shall  be  clean: 

Wash  me,  and  I  shall  be  v^hiter  than  snow. 

And  at  another  time,  equally  moved,  he  cried  out: 

O  Jehovah,  thou  hast  searched  me,  and  known  me. 

Thou  knowest  my  downsitting  and   mine  uprising; 

Thou  understandest  my  thought  afar  off. 

Thou  searchest  out  my  path  and  my  lying  down. 

And  art  acquainted  with  all  my  ways. 

For  there  is  not  a  word  in  my    tongue, 

But,  lo,   O  Jehovah,  thou  knowest  it  altogether. 

Thou  hast  beset  me  behind  and  before. 

And  laid  thy  hand  upon  me.     .     .     . 

Whither  shall  I  go  from  thy  Spirit? 

Or  whither  shall  I  flee  from  thy  presence? 

If  I  ascend  up  into  heaven,  thou  art  there: 

If  I  make  my  bed  in  Sheol,  behold,  thou  art  there. 

If  I  take  the  wings  of  the  morning. 

And  dwell  in  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  se^; 

Even  there  shall  thy  hand  lead  me, 

14 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

And  thy  right  hand  shall  hold  me.     .     .     . 
Search  me,  O  God,  and  know  my  heart : 
Try  me,  and  know  my  thoughts ; 
And  see  if  there  be  any  wicked  way  in  me, 
And  lead  me  in  the  way  everlasting. 

This  action  on  the  part  of  David  is  full  of  sug- 
gestion for  every  one  of  us;  open  up  your  life 
frankly  before  God  and  let  him  do  the  examining. 
There  will  be  no  mistake  made.  While  he  will 
condemn  all  that  is  bad  he  will  rejoice  in  all  that  is 
good  and  you  will  at  least  feel  that  you  are  on 
good  terms  with  him,  as  a  child  after  chastisement 
is  happy  to  be  again  on  good  terms  with  an  earthly 
parent. 

Most  of  us  will  need  also  to  examine  ourselves  at 
the  point  of  our  faith.  This  is  the  power  by  which 
we  take  hold  on  God.  Spiritual  things  will  not  all 
submit  to  the  processes  of  reason;  the  great  things 
of  the  soul, — life,  death,  immortality, — cannot  be 
worked  through  and  understood  like  a  mathemati- 
cal problem.  Many  men  are  making  their  greatest 
mistake  right  at  this  point.  They  are  insisting  that 
before  they  accept  Christ  and  become  Christians 
they  be  made  to  understand  everything  connected 
with  it.  They  refuse  to  allow  their  children  to 
enter  the  church  because,  they  say,  they  do  not 
understand  all  that  is  involved. 

The  answer  can  only  be:  Nobody  understands 
everything  about  God,  about  Christ,  about  the 
Christian  life.     They  all  transcend  human  under- 

15 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

standing;  but  that  is  not  to  say  that  they  are  not 
exactly  as  presented  in  the  Bible  and  as  revealed 
in  the  experiences  of  Christians  of  all  ages.  These 
great  facts  of  the  spiritual  world  we  must  accept 
by  faith.  God  has  never  yet  failed  a  soul  that 
freely  accepted  him  and  he  never  will,  for  his  nature 
does  not  change.  Instead  of  insisting  upon  a  com- 
plete physical  or  mental  demonstration  of  the  exist- 
ence o£  God  and  the  deity  of  Jesus  Christ  we 
should  occupy  the  position  of  the  poet  who  so  con- 
fidently sang: 

I  do  not  ask  to  see  the  way 

My  feet  will  have  to  tread; 
But  only  that  my  soul  may  feed 

Upon  the  living  bread. 
'Tis  better  far  that  I  should  walk 

By  faith  close  to  his  side, — 
I  may  not  know  the  way  to  go, 

But,  oh,  I  know  my  Guide. 

And    also    of    that    early    singer    who    cried    so 
exultantly  : 

O  gift  of  gifts!     O  grace  of  faith! 

My  God,  how  c'an  it  be 
That  thou,  who  hast  discerning  love, 

Shouldst  give  that  gift  to  me? 

How  can  they  live,  how  will  they  die. 

How  bear  the  cross  of  grief, 
Who  have  not  yet  the  light  of  faith, 

The  courage  of  belief? 
l6 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

The  crowd  of  cares,  the  weightiest  cross, 

Seem  trifles  less  than  Hght; 
Earth  looks  so  little  and  so  low 

When  faith  shines  full  and  bright. 

O  happy,  happy  that  I  am ! 

If  thou  canst  be,   O   faith, 
The  treasure  that  thou  art  in  life, 

What  wilt  thou  be  in  death? 

There  is  only  one  way  to  leap  the  chasm  of  mys- 
tery between  man  and  God,  between  temporary 
physical  life  and  eternal  spiritual  life.  That  is  by 
faith.  Believe  the  Bible.  Believe  what  it  says  about 
the  plan  of  salvation,  about  immortality.  You  want 
these  things  to  be  so;  the  Bible  says  they  are  so; 
all  human  experience  points  toward  their  verifica- 
tion. Then  kill  all  doubt  by  openly  and  frankly 
accepting  them  and  believing  them. 

But  the  vital  thing  in  our  religion  is  our  personal 
relationship  to  Jesus  Christ.  At  this  point  we  may 
well  examine  ourselves  as  Paul  challenged  the 
Corinthians  to  do.  If  we  demand  fine  things  in 
others  do  we  have  them  in  our  own  life?  If  we 
demand  that  others  have  Christ  in  their  lives  can  we 
prove  that  we  have  him  in  ours? 

An  enlightening  story  is  told  of  a  young  man 
from  the  middle  west  who  entered  a  great  eastern 
university.  His  preparation  had  been  exceptional. 
Entrance  examinations  were  taken  with  ease  and 
the  word  went  around  that  here  was  the  best  pre- 

17 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

pared  freshman  that  ever  entered  the  university. 
Added  to  this,  the  youth  was  a  devout  Christian. 
He  was  handsome  and  well  mannered  and  at  once 
began  to  attract  unusual  attention. 

It  is  hardly  to  be  wondered  that  such  a  man  would 
stir  up  some  envy  and  jealousy.  Professors  openly 
commended  him;  the  pastor  of  the  church  he  at- 
tended referred  to  him  as  the  most  promising  man 
he  had  ever  met.  His  triumph  seemed  assured  when 
to  his  amazement  erstwhile  friends  began  to  look 
askance  at  him  and  some  to  treat  him  with  un- 
mistakable coldness.  Clearly  there  was  a  change  of 
attitude  in  his  associates  for  which  he  could  find  no 
explanation. 

At  the  time  this  remarkable  youth  entered  the 
university  another  young  man  from  the  same  town 
matriculated.  He  was  the  son  of  a  rich  and  overfond 
parents  who  had  done  everything  for  their  boy  except 
give  him  enough  attention  to  raise  him  right.  He 
was  small-souled  and  dull-witted  and  immediately 
began  to  have  trouble  in  making  his  grades.  He 
saw  the  humble  youth  from  his  own  town  sail  past 
him  as  a  cup-winning  yacht  passes  a  mud  scow,  and 
his  small  soul  was  enraged.  So  he  began  to  insin- 
uate :  *Tf  I  should  tell  all  I  know,  my  fine  young 
man  would  not  hold  his  head  so  high.  I  could 
make  his  boasted  Christianity  hang  its  head  in 
shame.  If  these  professors  and  church  people  knew 
what  I  know  they  would  withhold  their  flatteries 

i8 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

and  guard  their  daughters."  When  particulars  were 
demanded  he  wagged  his  head  and  said  he  thought 
he  had  better  say  no  more.  Seeing  at  last  that  his 
vague  insinuations  were  falling  harmless,  he  came 
out  openly  and  charged  the  brilliant  youth  with  the 
ruin  of  a  simple-minded  orphan  girl  who  had  sub- 
sequently died  of  humiliation  and  a  broken  heart. 

At  last  the  strange  and  groundless  tale  reached 
the  ears  of  the  brilliant  freshman.  It  was  like  a 
blow  from  a  woodman's  ax.  Stunned  at  first  be- 
yond speech,  he  did  not  even  deny  the  accusation, 
but  started  in  the  early  evening  to  the  room  of  his 
townsman  to  ask  him  quietly  what  he  meant  by  it 
all.  When  the  lying  youth  opened  his  door  and  saw 
the  man  he  had  wronged  standing  there  in  all  the 
majesty  of  his  unspoiled  manhood,  he  cried  out, 
"My  God,  Stimson,  don't  kill  me!"  and  started  to 
rush  past  him  and  escape.  ''No,"  said  the  honest 
youth,  "stay  here.  I  want  to  have  a  talk  with  you." 
Frightened  beyond  self-control  the  weakling  turned 
into  his  room,  rushed  through  an  open  French  win- 
dow and  leaped  two  stories  to  the  ground  below. 
He  fell  among  shrubbery  which  scratched  and  tore 
his  tender  skin  and,  striking  the  ground  head  first, 
suffered  a  broken  arm  and  shoulder  blade. 

When  he  regained  consciousness  Stimson  was 
standing  over  him.  "What  in  the  world  did  you  do 
this  for,  Johnnie?  I  did  not  come  to  harm  you. 
While  I  have  noticed  a  change  in  the  attitude  of  all 

19 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

around  me,  I  was  unwilling  to  believe  you  were  tell- 
ing the  story  they  say  you  were  telling  and  came  to 
find  out  from  your  own  lips.  Come,  let  me  carry 
you  to  the  hospital.  We  must  have  these  injuries 
dressed."  ''No,"  said  the  suffering  youth,  "call  a 
doctor  and  start  me  for  home.  When  you  tell  what 
you  know  about  me,  I  had  better  be  dead  than  be 
here.  I  have  said  you  were  guilty  of  the  crime  I 
committed  back  home  two  years  ago." 

''But,  Johnnie,"  said  the  Christian,  "I  do  not 
intend  to  tell  what  I  know  either  here  or  back  home. 
Why  should  I  blast  your  life?  I  think  you  have 
suffered  enough  already  at  the  court  of  your  own 
conscience.  I  am  ready  to  nurse  you  back  to  health 
and  keep  my  lips  closed." 

As  the  stricken  youth  came  slowly  back  to  normal 
strength  in  the  university  hospital  he  had  time  to 
think  much  and  long.  Calling  a  classmate  to  his 
cot  one  day  he  said :  "George,  tell  the  boys  for  me 
that  what  I  said  about  Stimson  is  not  true.  He  is 
a  man  from  the  sole  of  his  foot  to  his  crown  and 
he  is  the  best  Christian  I  ever  knew.  He. beats  the 
good  Samaritan,  for  he  not  only  saves  a  man's  body, 
but  he  saves  his  soul  also.  He  is  an  incarnation  of 
Christianity." 

Would  your  Christianity  reveal  itself  similarly 
in  a  crisis  time?  The  phrase  of  Dr.  Grenfell  is 
significant :  "When  you  start  out  to  commend  your 
gospel  you  are  not  simply  to  announce  it  as  a  good 

20 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

thing,  or  to  urge  others  to  adopt  it  that  they  may 
be  more  agreeable  to  you,  but  to  commend  it  to  them 
by  what  it  has  obviously  done  for  you."  Are  you 
proving  to  the  world  that  you  have  Christ  in  your 
life  by  what  you  do  as  well  as  by  what  you  say? 
Are  men  drawn  to  Christ  by  what  they  see  he  has 
done  for  you? 

When  the  self -examining  here  proposed  is  fin- 
ished, are  you  going  to  stop  there?  If  you  do,  all 
your  hard  and  unwelcome  work  has  been  for  naught. 
Self-examination  lends  itself  to  progress  only  when 
you  immediately  act  upon  what  you  discover  about 
your  life.  If  your  conduct  is  not  up  to  Christian 
standards,  bring  it  up.  Do  not  wait  for  outside 
forces  to  w^ork  the  change.  Do  the  good  work  your- 
self. If  your  faith  in  God  and  his  providence  is 
weak ;  if  it  does  not  support  you  in  time  of  crisis  and 
make  all  life  beautiful  and  your  hope  for  the  future 
radiant,  go  back  to  your  Bible  and  to  the  lives  of 
the  saints.  Read  what  the  Book  says  and  note  how 
the  saints  lived.  Test  God  at  the  point  of  his  prom- 
ises and  see  that  he  never  fails.  Dwell  with  him  in 
communion;  work  for  him  in  meeting  the  needs 
of  his  earthly  children.  Leave  transcendentalism 
and  German  philosophy  alone.  They  are  as  empty 
as  the  rain  barrel  in  midsummer  and  as  lifeless. 
Spend  much  time  with  God  and  do  much  work 
for  men,  and  your  faith  will  grow  as  a  garden  in 
springtime  and  its  fruits  will  be  as  rich  and 
nourishing. 

21 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN   CULTURE 

If  you. find  your  hold  on  Christ  as  the  Son  of 
God  and  the  Saviour  of  the  world  is  weak  and  un- 
fruitful, go  back  to  his  life  on  earth  and  study  it 
deeply.  In  his  marvelous  little  book  recently  re- 
printed, Peter  Bayne  says  Jesus  Christ  is  the  best 
witness  for  Christianity.  You  cannot  know  him 
intimately  and  still  reject  him.  He  is  rejected  only 
by  those  who  do  not  know  him  or  by  those  whose 
knowledge  of  him  is  superficial.  Those  best  quali- 
fied to  speak  join  eagerly  with  Paul  when  he  says, 
^'Christ  in  you,  the  hope  of  glory." 

Get  more  and  more  of  Christ's  fine  spirit  into 
your  life.  Study  the  prophecies  concerning  his  com- 
ing; study  his  life  and  his  matchless  teachings ;  study 
his  influence  on  society  for  nineteen  hundred  years ; 
compare  Christian  nations  with  non-Christian  na- 
tions and  account  for  their  superiority;  be  honest  in 
the  acceptance  of  obvious  conclusions  and  then  de- 
termine that,  since  Christ  is  what  he  is,  since  he  has 
done  what  he  has  for  individuals  and  nations,  you 
will  stop  quibbling  and  doubting  and  accept  him 
openly  as  your  Saviour. 

Do  not  allow  a  few  unanswerable  questions  or 
the  fatuous  harangues  of  a  few  blatant  infidels  to 
rob  you  of  your  Lord.  Accept  Abraham  Lincoln's 
advice  to  Joshua  Speed  about  the  Bible,  "Take  all 
of  this  Book  that  you  can  on  reason  and  the  rest  on 
faith  and  you  will  live  and  die  a  better  man."  Deter- 
mine that  your  religion  is  going  to  mean  something 
to  you  and  every  life  you  can  influence;  plunge  into 

22 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

the  work  of  the  church,  saying  that,  while  you  feel 
your  weakness  and  inability,  you  are  willing  to  try, 
being  determined  to  do  what  you  can  for  the  uplift 
of  men  and  the  advancement  of  the  kingdom  of  God 
while  your  powers  are  fresh  and  keen,  and  all  your 
life  will  become  beautiful  and  yourself  a  growing 
factor  in  Christ's  conquest  of  the  world. 


23 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 


Chapter  Two 

PROGRESS  IN  CHRISTIAN  CULTURE: 
BY  BIBLE  STUDY 

The  ambition  to  go  higher  which  our  Creator  has 
planted  in  every  man  moves  him  to  search  on  every 
hand  for  forces  that  upHft.  One  is  not  enough.  He 
has  discovered  that  there  are  many.  Night  and  day 
he  phes  hand  and  heart  and  brain  that  he  may  pos- 
sess again  the  godhke  quahties  of  knowledge,  right- 
eousness and  true  holiness  which  he  had  in  such 
large  measure  on  the  day  of  his  creation. 

Every  instructed  mind  Is  sure  that  among  the 
forces  that  make  for  higher  righteousness  none  is 
so  powerful  as  genuine  Christianity  and  that,  to  be 
a  right  Christian,  he  must  be  possessed  of  the  mar- 
velous contents  of  the  Word  of  God;  its  supreme 
revelations ;  its  examples  of  lofty  righteousness ;  its 
stern  calls  to  duty;  its  sublime  utterances  of  faith 
and  worship ;  its  matchless  story  of  the  Saviour  and 
his  appeal  to  men  to  walk  in  his  footsteps.  No  man, 
possessed  of  all  this  wealth  of  divine  truth,  can  with- 
stand its  upward  pull. 

And  all  this  is  by  no  means  to  deny  that  other 
literature  has   a  high   cultural  value.     The  moral 

24 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

teachings  of  Socrates  and  the  lofty  Hfe  philosophy 
of  Plato  have  done  much  for  the  uplift  of  the  race. 
Pagan  literatures  from  all  nations  yield  many  gems 
of  great  moral  value,  but  it  is  far  from  heartening 
to  observe  that  where  a  people  have  had  nothing 
but  these  they  have  declined  rather  than  advanced 
in  higher  culture.  One  can  hardly  go  into  ecstasies 
over  the  literature  of  Buddhism  and  Confucianism 
when  the  result  of  them  is  modern  India  and 
modem  China. 

James.  P>eeman  Clarke  in  his  "Ten  Great  Reli- 
gions" tells  of  an  enthusiast  over  pagan  sacred 
writings  who  said  that  while  he  kept  all  of  these 
non-Christian  waitings  on  one  side  of  his  desk  he 
kept  the  Bible  on  the  other  side,  and  that  for  solid 
value  and  cultural  power  the  Bible  far  outweighs 
them  all. 

In  harmony  with  this  is  the  statement  by  a  now 
lamented  Bible  scholar^  before  the  Ecumenical 
Council  a  few  years  ago : 

The  Christian  apologist  ma}'-  fearlessly  invite  the  compari- 
son which  is  being  already  so  widely  made  between  the  Bible 
and  other  sacred  books.  He  need  not  fear  it.  The  Bible  does 
evidence  itself  as  such  a  revelation  as  God  might  make, 
while  the  sacred  books  of  other  religions  run  off  into  meta- 
physical abstractions  or  grotesque  puerilities  or  mere  ethics. 
We  need  to  press  the  comparison,  only  being  careful  that 
the  whole  Bible  with  its  progressive  and  unified  system  of 

^George  T.  Purves,  D.D. 

25 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

truth  is  put  into  the  hands  of  the  pagan  world.  Testimony 
is  abundant  that  there  is  no  better  defense  of  Christianity 
than  the  Bible  itself. 

Discussing  the  question  of  the  elevation  and 
Christianization  of  the  Mohammedans,  Rev.  C.  T. 
Wilson,  a  missionary  from  Palestine,  said  at  the 
same  conference:  ^'First  of  all,  we  should  press 
the  circulation  of  God's  Word,  especially  in  the 
sacred  Arabic  tongue.  The  rapid  growth  of  educa- 
tion in  the  East  is  enabling  many  people  to  read  it 
for  themselves,  while  the  efforts  of  the  Turks  to 
stop  its  circulation  have  been  overruled  to  facili- 
tate it." 

Missionaries  in  every  quarter  of  the  world  are 
telling  us  constantly  of  natives  who  come  to  them 
from  distant  parts  of  the  countries  in  which  they 
are  working  already  converted  and  asking  for 
Christian  baptism.  On  inquiry  it  is  found  that  in 
some  way  the  converted  ones  came  into  possession 
of  a  leaf  or  a  portion  of  the  Bible.  The  marvelous 
story,  read  in  their  own  tongue,  has  laid  hold  upon 
their  hearts  and  the  Holy  Spirit  has  led  them  to  the 
Saviour. 

But  we  are  hearing  of  cases  where  the  Bible  and 
other  Christian  literature  is  affecting  the  life  of 
whole  nations — and  these  the  nations  one  would 
least  expect.  Rev.  George  Owen,  a  missionary  to 
China,  told  a  wonderful  story  a  few  years  ago 
which  I  give  very  largely  in  his  own  words: 

26 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

What  I  have  to  tell  you  I  can  tell  you  at  first  hand  from 
my  own  experience  and  observation.  The  year  1898  will,  I 
think,  be  one  of  the  most  memorable  in  the  long  history  of 
China.  A  great  reform  party  arose,  with  the  Emperor  at  its 
head,  and  took  in  hand  the  reconstruction  of  China  after 
foreign  models  and  under  Christian  influences.  Among  the 
leaders  of  that  movement  were  some  of  China's  most  brilliant 
scholars  and  a  few  of  her  ablest  and  highest  officials.  The 
bulk  of  the  party  consisted  of  the  young  literary  men, 
officials,  merchants  and  gentry.  Young  China  rallied  to  the 
cry  of  reform.  Early  in  January,  1898,  we  were  startled  in 
Peking  by  the  report  that  the  Emperor  had  sent  to  the 
American  Bible  and  Tract  Depot  and  ordered  a  copy  of  the 
Bible  and  a  copy  of  every  tract  and  book  that  the  depot 
could  supply  him  for  his  own  reading.  These  books  were 
passed  into  the  palace,  and  early  and  late  you  might  have 
seen  the  Emperor  of  China,  the  master  of  four  hundred  mil- 
lions of  men,  bending  eagerly  over  those  books  and  absorbing 
their  contents.  The  report  that  the  Emperor  had  become  a 
student  of  Christian  literature  soon  spread  through  Peking, 
and  from  Peking  was  carried  to  every  part  of  the  empire. 
The  news  gave  great  joy  to  all  Christian  workers,  and  from 
all  parts  of  China  wherever  there  was  a  Christian  man  or 
woman  there  went  up  an  earnest  prayer  on  behalf  of  the 
Emperor  that,  as  he  pored  over  the  sacred  page,  or  read  some 
of  the  books  explaining  it,  light  from  God  should  shine  upon 
it.  As  we  prayed  an  answer  in  part  fell,  for  at  the  end  of 
January  an  edict  was  issued  sanctioning  the  establishment  of 
a  great  national  university  in  Peking  based  on  foreign  models 
and  equipped  with  a  staff  of  foreign  professors.  Many 
edicts  followed,  all  breathing  a  liberal  spirit  and  creating  an 
atmosphere  new  in  China.  Among  those  edicts  was  one  in 
which  the  Emperor  lamented  the  frequency  of  attacks  on 
Christian  missions,  and  the  officials  were  instructed  to  see 
that  those  attacks  cease,  and,  moreover,  to  see  that  his  Chris- 
tian subjects  should  not  suffer  for  their  faith  in  Christ.    Some 

27 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

of  the  leading  reformers  would  fain  have  gone  further,  giving 
full  toleration  to  Christianity  on  a  level  with  Confucianism, 
Buddhism  and  Taoism;  and  some  of  the  stalwarts  went  so 
far  as  to  urge  the  adoption  of  Christianity  as  the  national 
religion. 

This  reform  movement,  and  the  example  of  the 
Emperor,  was  widely  followed  among  the  literary 
men,  and  there  sprang  up  a  demand  for  Christian 
literature.  Men  were  eager  to  get  books  on  the 
religion,  the  history,  the  science,  the  politics  and 
the  institutions  of  the  West.  There  arose  a  new 
cry  out  there,  "Light,  more  light !" 

Many  will  remember  that  the  Empress  Dowager, 
encouraged  by  conservative  supporters,  soon  rose 
up  against  these  reforms,  but  it  was  the  folly  of 
Chanute,  w^ho  would  stay  the  incoming  tides  of 
the  sea.  By  a  strange  coincidence  she  and  the 
Emperor  whom  she  had  so'  completely  dominated 
died  within  a  few  hours  of  each  other  and  the  long- 
bound  empire  passed  intO'  younger  and  more  pro- 
gressive hands. 

Now  the  monarchy  is  overthrown  and  the  most 
conservative  of  nations  begins  her  career  as  a  re- 
public. She  will  not  have  an  easy  time.  Enemies 
within  and  without  will  continue  to  make  trouble, 
but  as  Greater  China  gathers  strength  from  her 
growing  knowledge  of  God's  Word  her  power  will 
increase  until,  before  the  present  century  is  past, 
the  ^'Sleeping  Giant"  will  be  well  to  the  fore  among 
the  leading  nations  of  the  world. 

28 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

Without  doubt  the  most  notable  instance  of 
national  transformation  and  regeneration  by  the 
power  of  the  Bible  the  world  has  thus  far  seen 
was  that  of  England.  Liberated  from  the  close 
guardianship  of  Rome  and  the  restraining  bars  of 
the  Latin  tongue  by  its  translation  into  the  vernacu- 
lar by  Wycliffe  in  the  closing  years  of  the  four- 
teenth century,  the  Bible  began  to  undermine  the 
faith  of  the  people  in  the  cardinal  doctrines  of  the 
Catholic  faith :  transubstantiation,  the  mass,  the 
confession,  indulgences,  absolutions,  pilgrimages  to 
the  shrines  of  saints,  worship  of  their  images,  wor- 
ship of  the  saints  themselves.  These  doctrines  were 
successively  attacked  by  Wycliffe  and  his  followers 
and  repudiated  by  thousands. 

"A  formal  appeal  to  the  Bible  as  the  ground  of 
faith,"  says  the  historian  Green,  ''coupled  with  an 
assertion  of  the  right  of  every  instructed  man  to 
examine  the  Bible  for  himself,  threatened  the  very 
groundwork  of  the  older  dogmatism  with  ruin." 

But  the  power  of  church  and  state,  both  op- 
posed to  the  individual  liberty  fostered  by  the  Bible, 
soon  suppressed  the  AVycliffe  heresies  and  for  nearly 
a  century  and  a  half  they  lay  smoldering  in  the 
hearts  of  a  rebellious  people.  Early  in  the  six- 
teenth century  the  work  of  Luther  began  to  shake 
again  the  foundations  of  Rome.  Then  William 
Tyndale  arose  and  put  the  New  Testament  into  the 
hands  of  the  common  people.  "He  perceived,"  says 
the  historian,  ''how  impossible  it  was  to  establish 

29 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

the  lay  people  in  any  truth  except  the  Scriptures 
were  plainly  laid  before  their  eyes  in  their  mother 
tongue."  *Tf  God  spares  my  life,"  he  said  to  a 
learned  controversialist,  "ere  many  years  I  will  cause 
a  boy  that  driveth  a  plow  shall  know  more  of  the 
Scriptures  than  thou  dost."  So  great  was  the  hos- 
tility of  Rome  to  the  young  scholar's  plans  that, — 
from  1524  to  1526,  when  his  efforts  were  crowned 
with  success, — Tyndale  passed  through  * 'poverty, 
exile,  bitter  absence  from  friends,  hung^er  and  thirst 
and  cold,  great  dangers  and  innumerable  other  hard 
and  sharp  fightings." 

In  1526  six  thousand  copies  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment reached  England  and  instantly  created  the 
greatest  consternation.  King  and  priest  alike  de- 
nounced the  Book,  but  the  people  took  it  to  their 
hearts  and  the  liberation  of  men's  mind  and  soul 
at  once  began. 

The  Bible  became  the  most  studied  book  in  Eng- 
land and  at  once  began  to  raise  the  people  from 
serfdom  to  sovereignty.  Of  a  slightly  later  period 
the  historian  says  further :  "For  a  hundred  years 
past  men  had  been  living  in  the  midst  of  a  spiritual 
revolution.  Not  only  the  world  about  them  but 
the  world  of  thought  and  feeling  within  every  breast 
had  been  utterly  transformed.  The  work  of  the  six- 
teenth century  had  wrecked  that  tradition  of  reli- 
gion, of  knowledge,  of  political  and  social  order 
which  had  been  accepted  without  question  by  the 
middle  ages.      The   sudden   freedom   of  the  mind 

30 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

from  these  older  bonds  brought  a  consciousness  of 
power  that  had  never  been  felt  before;  and  the 
restless  energy,  the  universal  activity  of  the  renais- 
sance, were  but  outer  expressions  of  the  pride,  the 
joy,  the  amazing  self-confidence  with  which  man 
w^elcomed  this  revelation  of  the  energies  wdiich  had 
lain  slumbering  within  him.  .  .  .  From  that 
hour  one  dominant  influence  told  on  human  action ; 
and  all  the  various  energies  that  had  been  called 
into  life  by  the  age  that  was  passing  away  were 
seized,  concentrated  and  steadied  to  a  definite  aim 
by  the  spirit  of  religion." 

The  popularity  of  the  Bible  was  growing  every 
passing  day.  When  copies  were  set  up  in  St.  Pauls 
scores  flocked  to  their  reading,  listening  intently  to 
anyone  who  could  make  their  meaning  plain.  The 
small  Genevan  Bibles  now  began  to  appear  and 
one  was  found  in  every  awakened  home. 

No  less  was  the  influence  of  the  Bible  on  the 
intellectual  life  of  the  people.  ''So  far  as  the  nation 
at  large  was  concerned,  no  history,  no  romance, 
hardly  any  poetry,  save  the  little-known  verse  of 
Chaucer,  existed  in  the  English  tongue  when  the 
Bible  was  ordered  to  be  set  up  in  the  churches. 
Sunday  after  Sunday,  day  after  day,  the  crowds 
that  gathered  around  the  Bible  in  the  nave  of  St. 
Pauls,  or  the  family  group  that  hung  on  its  words 
in  the  devotional  exercises  at  home,  were  leavened 
with  a  new  literature." 

But  far  greater  than  the  effect  of  the  Bible  on 
31 


PROGRESS    IN   CHRISTIAN   CULTURE 

literature  or  social  life  was  its  effect  on  the  char- 
acter of  the  people  at  large.  ''The  Bible  was  as  yet 
the  one  book  which  was  familiar  to  every  English- 
man ;  and  everywhere  its  words,  as  they  fell  on  ears 
which  custom  had  not  deadened  to  their  force  and 
beauty,  kindled  a  startling  enthusiasm.  The  whole 
moral  effect  which  is  produced  nowadays  by  the 
religious  newspaper,  the  tract,  the  essay,  the  mis- 
sionary report,  the  sermon,  was  then  produced  by 
the  Bible  alone,  and  its  effect  in  this  way,  however 
dispassionately  we  examine  it,  was  simply  amazing. 
The  whole  nation  became  a  church."  • 

This  enthusiasm  for  the  Bible  resulted  in  the  Puri- 
tanism which  gave  to  the  world  modern  England 
and  the  American  republic  as  well.  The  influence 
of  the  Bible  in  producing  the  highest  civilization  the 
world  has  yet  reached  simply  cannot  be  measured. 
The  Bible  is  the  foundation,  structure,  capstone; 
aye,  it  is  the  very  essence  of  the  highest  life  the 
world  has  ever  seen. 

The  Bible  has  lost  none  of  its  power.  What  it 
did  for  our  ancestors  in  Europe  four  hundred  years 
ago  it  will  do  for  any  man  to-day  who  will  give 
time  to  its  mastery.  All  its  wealth  of  revelation,  all 
its  nobility  of  thought,  all  its  richness  of  song  and 
story,  all  its  upward  pull  on  the  heart  are  open  to 
him  who  will  devote  a  few  moments  a  day  to  the 
study  of  its  pages. 

First  of  all  we  should  study  the  life  of  Jesus 
and  the  teaching  of  the  Epistles  to  learn  how  to  live. 

32 


PROGRESS    IN   CHRISTIAN   CULTURE 

Strange  that  man  is  so  slow  in  learning  that  which 
nieans  most  to  his  progress  and  culture.  Jesus  knew 
how  to  live.  We  may  safely  accept  him  as  our 
model.  He  is  the  one  man  that  ever  walked  the 
earth  who  fully  satisfied  the  heart  of  God.  He  is 
God's  idea  of  what  a  man  should  be. 

From  the  example  and  teaching  of  Jesus  as  given 
in  the  Bible  we  learn  that  it  is  the  will  of  our 
Creator  that  we  live  simply  and  keep  our  bodies 
and  our  minds  pure.  Jesus  was  no  ascetic,  yet  he 
dressed  simply,  ate  the  plainest  food  and  often  slept 
with  only  the  canopy  of  heaven  for  a  covering. 
When  IMartha  of  Bethany  was  struggling  to  get  up 
an  elaborate  meal  in  his  honor  and  complained  that 
Mary  left  her  with  all  the  work  to  do,  he  gently 
rebuked  this  woman  that  he  loved,  saying  that  one 
simple  dish  would  be  enough  and  that  many  things 
were  more  important  than  a  superabundance  of 
food. 

According  to  the  teaching  and  example  of  Jesus, 
the  highest  achievement  any  man  can  boast  is  to 
retain  to  the  period  of  life's  storm  and  stress  the 
purity  and  innocence  of  childhood.  Let  us  not  for- 
get that  when  the  rich  and  powerful  crowded  around 
him  Christ  took  a  little  child  and,  setting  him  in 
the  midst  of  the  company  where  all  could  gaze  into 
his  unclouded  eyes,  said  that  except  they  became  as 
little  children  they  should  not  enter  the  kingdom  of 
heaven. 

Passing  by  the  physical,  the  Bible  again  teaches 
33 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

man  what  his  attitude  should  be  toward  other  men. 
Hatred,  jealousy  and  envy  filled  the  world  when 
Jesus  came  into  it.  Every  man's  hand  was  against 
every  other  man.  To  his  friends  even  man  was 
treacherous  and  toward  his  enemies  a  flame  of  fire. 
Men  knew  not  the  meaning  of  brotherhood. 

Jesus  said :  'T  know  that  the  old  teaching  has 
been  eye  for  eye,  tooth  for  tooth,  blow  for  blow, 
life  for  life;  but  it  is  all  wTong.  God  has  made  of 
one  blood  all  nations  of  men ;  we  must  live  together 
in  peace  and  unity,  each  concerned  for  the  other's 
welfare.  Therefore  I  say  unto  you.  Love  not  only 
your  friends,  love  your  enemies  and  do  them  good. 
Be  like  God  in  the  magnificence  of  your  loving  and 
forgiving."  A  right  following  of  Jesus  would  stop 
man's  inhumanity  to  man  and  put  an  end  to  ingrati- 
tude. Universal  love  would  mean  universal  joy 
and  an  end  to  social  unrest  and  discord. 

But  the  love-life  emphasized  by  Jesus  benefits  not 
the  object  of  the  afl^ections  alone;  it  helps  quite 
as  much  the  life  that  loves.  Hatred  is  an  acid  that 
eats  out  all  the  finer  qualities  of  life.  Modern  litho- 
graphers have  an  acid  so  keen  that  it  eats  away 
lines  stenciled  by  the  sun  on  the  hardest  granite. 
Ciierishing  of  hatred  cuts  the  keen  edge  off  of 
character  as  rust  dulls  the  razor's  edge.  Great  as 
he  was,  Michelangelo  would  have  gone  higher 
but  for  the  hatred  he  cherished  for  certain  artists 
and  rulers  of  his  day.  The  one  flaw  in  his  great 
painting  of  the  Last  Judgment  is  the  distorted  face 

34 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

and  figure  of  an  enemy  which  he  painted  in  for 
spite.  A  man  may  paint  his  enemy  as  the  Devil, 
but  a  worse  devil  is  the  enmity  that  prompted  the 
deed. 

From  the  writings  of  Paul  we  learn  more  par- 
ticulars touching  our  daily  living.  The  twelfth 
chapter  of  Romans  is  a  veritable  mine  of  good 
counsel.  We  are  to  live  peaceably  with  all  men; 
we  are  to  speak  no  evil  word;  we  are  to  extend  all 
Christian  hospitality  to  those  about  us.  No  form 
of  theft  is  to  be  tolerated,  whether  by  house-breaking 
or  by  law-breaking,  but  all  are  to  work  honestly 
for  daily  bread,  earning  enough  for  ourselves  and 
having  something  to  give  to  the  less  fortunate 
around  us  w^ho  may  be  in  need.  From  Paul's 
Epistles  we  learn  also  that  our  bodies  are  temples 
for  the  indwelling  of  the  spirit  of  God;  that  they 
must  not  be  defiled  but  kept  pure  for  the  service 
of  the  soul. 

Every  social  question  that  may  arise  will  find 
its  answer,  if  one  will  but  look  with  knowing  eyes, 
in  the  Word  of  God. 

To  quicken  and  enlarge  one's  devotional  and 
spiritual  life  there  is  no  writing  so  effectual  as  the 
Psalms  of  David.  As  upon  unseen  wings  the  soul 
soars  as  the  student  repeats  and  meditates  upon: 

O  Jehovah,  our  Lord, 

How  excellent  is  thy  name  in  all  the  earth, 

Who  hast  set  thy  glory  upon  the  heavens ! 

35 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

Out  of  the  mouth  of  babes  and  suckHngs  hast  thou  established 

strength, 
Because  of  thine  adversaries, 

That  thou  mightest  still  the  enemy  and  the  avenger. 
When  I  consider  thy  heavens,  the  w^ork  of  thy  fingers, 
The  moon  and  the  stars,  v^hich  thou  hast  ordained ; 
What  is  man,  that  thou  art  mindful  of  him? 
And  the  son  of  man,  that  thou  visitest  him? 
For  thou  hast  made  him  but  little  lower  than  God, 
And  crownest  him   with   glory  and   honor. 

An  uplift  of  the  soul  cannot  fail  to  be  to  him 
who  joins  the  sweet  singer  in  his  soliloquy: 

I  will  lift  up  mine  eyes  unto  the  mountains: 
From  whence  shall  my  help  come? 

Or  to  him  who  reverently  reads : 

As  the  mountains  are  round  about  Jerusalem, 
So  Jehovah   is   round   about  his   people 
From  this   time   forth   and     for    evermore. 

No  guilty  soul  that  reads  the  Psalms  of  David 
can  refrain  from  crying  out  with  him  and  securing 
cleansing  thereby : 

Have  mercy  upon  me,  O  God,  according  to  thy  loving- 
kindness  : 

According  to  the  multitude  of  thy  tender  mercies  blot  out 
my  transgressions. 

Wash  me  thoroughly  from  mine  iniquity, 

And  cleanse  me  from  my  sin.     .     .     . 

Create  in  me  a  clean  heart,  O  God  ; 

And  renew  a  right  spirit  within  me. 

36 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

As  the  bathe^,  caught  on  the  beach  by  the  swiftly 
rising  tide,  is  Hfted  first  to  his  knees,  then  to  his 
fefet,  then  to  the  tips  of  his  toes,  until  he  is  finally 
swallowed  up  in  the  all-engulfing  sea,  so  the  soul  on 
the  arid  plains  of  life  that  begins  to  drink  at  the 
fount  of  divine  revelation  will  soon  be  caus^ht  in 
its  larger  waters  and  borne  upw^ard  and  onward 
toward  the  great  harbor  of  God. 

There  remain  histories  and  prophecies  that  speak 
of  God's  dealings  with  Israel  and  his  plans  for  the 
future  that  stir  the  heart  of  the  student  to  measures 
of  faith  and  confidence  of  which  he  had  not 
dreamed.  Recall  the  majestic  measures  of  Genesis, 
which  declare  the  power  of  God  in  creation;  the 
marvels  of  Exodus,  which  make  the  blood  to  stand 
still  as  one  reads  the  tragedy  of  Pharaoh's  court 
and  then  run 'on  like  a  mill  race  in  hope  and  anticipa- 
tion when  the  cruel  monarch  lets  God's  people  go. 
Read  of  nation-building  as  well  as  character-build- 
ing in  the  wilderness ;  battle-winning  on  the  plains 
of  Jericho;  city-building  in  Judaea  and  Samaria, — 
all  so  obviously  in  some  infinite  plan  for  the 
advancement  of  the  race  that  one  is  forced  to  believe 
an  all-powerful  God  is  back  of  it. 

Then  there  is  the  heart- wringing  story  of  Joseph, 
at  first  repulsive  and  yet  alive  with  human  interest ; 
then  arresting,  as  incidents  thicken;  then  inspiring, 
as  the  young  hero  resists  temptation  and  climbs  the 
ladder  of  success ;  then  faith-building  and  strength- 
ening, as  the  hand  of  God  appears  in  the  saving  of 

Z7 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

his  people.  Soon  the  student  begins  to  see  that  back 
of  all  human  events  there  stands  a  purposeful  and 
all-powerful  God. 

When,  through  the  eyes  of  inspired  prophets,  one 
looks  toward  the  future  and  sees  that  God's  plans  are 
infinite,  eternal  and  unchangeable,  he  cannot  but 
cry  out  like  Thomas  of  old,  "My  Lord  and  my 
God." 

Behold,  then,  this  matchless  volume  as  it  rests 
in  your  hands  to-day.  The  Bible  has  healed  more 
broken  hearts,  restored  more  ruined  lives,  stirred  to 
new  measures  of  activity  more  arrested  careers, 
given  hope  to  more  penitent  hearts,  lifted  man  more 
definitely  tow^ard  God  than  all  other  known  forces 
put  together.  Can  you  afford  to  neglect  it?  It 
opens  its  sacred  pages  invitingly  before  your  eyes ; 
it  bids  you,  like  Lord  Tennyson,  drink  deep  at  the 
open  fountain  of  divine  truth;  it  reveals  to  you  the 
method  of  the  new  birth  and  opens  a  broad  pathw^ay 
to  the  matchless  city  of  the  soul,  w^hose  builder  and 
maker  is  God. 


38 


PROGRESS   IN   CHRISTIAN   CULTURE 


Chapter  Three 

PROGRESS  IN  CHRISTIAN  CULTURE: 
BY  PRAYER 

It  is  with  the  greatest  hesitancy  that  one  begins  to 
write  openly  of  a  thing  so  personal  and  precious  as 
communion  between  a  worshiper  and  his  God.  Of 
many  things  in  our  religion  we  may  speak  freely  and 
much,  but  of  this  inner  thing,  this  thing  which 
makes  religion  a  reality  and  by  which  we  take  hold 
on  a  spiritual  God,  one  may  not  so  speak.  It  can- 
not be  minutely  defined  or  fully  bounded.  While 
genuine  prayer  is  always  sincere,  its  quality  will 
be  determined  by  the  faith  and  consecration  of  the 
worshiper;  its  power  by  his  faith;  its  richness,  not 
by  his  education,  but  by  his  consecration  and 
devotion. 

But  sacred  as  the  whole  subject  is,  there  are  cer- 
tain things  which  may  be  said  about  prayer,  and 
perhaps  which  should  be  said.  Rightly  understood 
it  is  the  most  powerful  possession  of  the  Christian 
and — one  despondently  fears — is  the  least  used. 
If  a  fuller  understanding  of  its  nature  and  place 
will  help  in  the  development  of  any  Christian,  then 

39 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

these  words  on  a  subject  so  transcendent  will  per- 
haps be  pardoned. 

History  and  travel  reveal  to  us  that  the  practice 
of  prayer  is  universal;  every  race,  in  every  age, 
has  had  its.  form  of  adoration  and  communion  with 
unseen  higher  powers.  With  the  people  of  Jehovah 
it  has  been  foremost  from  the  time  of  Abraham. 

This  patriarch  and  founder  of  a  religion  and  a 
race  literally  wrestled  with  God  in  prayer.  His 
fervor  and  importunity  and  the  answers  he  obtained 
have  been  the  inspiration  of  all  students  of  the  Old 
Testanient  in  every  age.  When  Jesus  entered  upon 
his  earthly  work  he  began  at  once  to  pray;  not  to 
talk  about  prayer  as  a  good  thing,  or  to  urge  others 
to  engage  in  it,  but  to  pray — constantly,  fervently, 
without  ceasing.  His  example  almost  makes  the 
duty  and  privilege  of  prayer  an  ordinance.  It  cer- 
tainly drives  the  Christian  to  his  closet  to  study  the 
whole  subject,  that  he  may  discover  its  power  and 
how  much  of  prayer  there  should  be  in  his  life. 

If  now  we  ask  the  direct  question.  What  is 
prayer?  we  shall  get  an  answer  that  will  doubtless 
surprise  many.  ''Prayer,"  cries  one  devout  student, 
''is  not  the  ignorant  outcry  of  a  clamorous  soul 
seeking  to  have  its  own  way,  but  the  calm,  delib- 
erate utterance  of  intelligent  righteousness  coming 
into  entire  sympathy  with  the  mind  of  God." 

Similarly,   Henry  Ward   Beecher  once  said : 

I  know  there  is  in  prayer  a  great  deal  more  than  question 
40 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

or  answer.  If  prayer  were  but  a  mere  order  sent  to  market, 
expecting  to  bring  back  so  much  in  a  basket  every  time,  I 
then  might  enter  into  account  and  have  commercial  deaHng 
on  that  subject.  The  barrenness  of  prayer  is,  I  am  afraid, 
somewhat  exposed  by  the  low  state  in  which  it  too  often 
exists. 

Dropping  out,  as  we  may  say,  the  lower  elements  of  it, 
what  is  prayer  but  the  conscious  lifting  of  a  man's  soul  into 
the  invisible  realm,  into  the  presence  of  the  invisible  Father? 
What  is  it  but  shutting  out  for  the  moment,  with  the  closing 
of  the  eye,  all  conscious  sensuousness  and  secularity  and  ris- 
ing by  the  effort  of  the  soul  through  silence  up  into  the 
region  where  God  sits,  and  dwelling — though  but  for  a 
moment — out  of  the  body,  in  the  presence  of  the  eternal  God. 

To  the  author  personally  the  element  which  has 
seemed  vital  in  all  true  prayer  is  that  expressed  by 
our  word  contact.  Prayer  is  contact  between  the 
worshiping  soul  and  God.  This  contact  may  be 
long  or  short,  but  no  soul  can  come  into  actual  touch 
with  God  and  not  be  better  ever  afterwards. 

Many  of  the  great  prayers  of  the  Bible  contain 
no  petitions  for  personal  blessings.  They  are 
mighty  paeans  of  thanksgiving,  glorious  anthems  of 
praise.  Note  the  victorious  shout  of  Moses  and  of 
Deborah.  Others  ask  for  no  material  blessings,  but 
pray  for  cleansing  and  refilling  with  divine  power. 
Many  students  feel  that  the  Fifty-first  Psalm  is  the 
greatest  prayer  in  the  Old  Testament.  Here  David 
is  on  his  face  before  God : 

Have    mercy    upon    me,    O    God,    according    to    thy    loving- 
kindness  : 

41 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

According  to   the   multitude   of   thy  tender  mercies  blot   out 

my  transgressions. 
Wash  me  thoroughly  from  mine  iniquity, 
And  cleanse  me  from  my  sin. 
For  I  know  my  transgressions; 
And  my  sin  is  ever  before  me.     .     .    . 
Purify  me  with  hyssop,  and  I  shall  be  clean: 
Wash  me,  and  I  shall  be  whiter  than  snow. 
Make  me  to  hear  joy  and  gladness, 
That  the  bones  which  thou  hast  broken  may  rejoice. 
Hide  thy  face  from  my  sins, 
And  blot  out  all  mine  iniquities. 
Create  in  me  a  clean  heart,  O  God; 
And  renew  a  right  spirit  within  me. 
Cast  me  not  away  from  thy  presence; 
And  take  not  thy  holy  Spirit  from  me. 
Restore  unto  me  the  joy  of  thy  salvation; 
And  uphold  me  with  a  willing  spirit. 
Then  will  I  teach  trangressors  thy  ways; 
And   sinners   shall  be   converted   unto  thee. 

A  hasty  analysis  of  our  Lord's  prayer  reveals 
that,  while  there  are  many  petitions,  only  one  has 
any  bearing  upon  material  blessings : 

Our  Father  which  art  in  heaven,  Hallowed  be  th)'-  name. 
Thy  kingdom  come.  Thy  will  be  done  in  earth,  as  it  is  in 
heaven.  Give  us  this  day  our  daily  bread.  And  forgive  us 
our  debts,  as  we  forgive  our  debtors.  And  lead  us  not  into 
temptation,  but  deliver  us  from  evil :  For  thine  is  the  king- 
dom, and  the  power,  and  the  glory,   forever.     Amen. 

The  first  sentence  declares  God's  universal 
fatherhood  and  the  place  of  his  abode.  Then  fol- 
low three  fervent  petitions  that  his  name  may  be 

42 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

glorified,  the  coming  of  his  kingdom  hastened  and 
that  his  will  may  prevail,  *'as  in  heaven,  so  on 
earth."  Next  is  the  single  petition  for  material 
blessings :  "Give  us  this  day  our  daily  bread." 
Probably  that  was  to  include  all  like  things — home, 
shelter,  health,  food.  Three  terse  petitions  for 
spiritual  blessings  follow:  ''Forgive  us  our  debts, 
lead  us  not  into  temptation,  deliver  us  from  evil"; 
things  only  God  can  do  for  us.  Then  follows  the 
conclusion,  which  declares  that  all  glory,  praise 
and  honor  shall  be  given  to  his  name  forever. 

What  does  this  brief  analysis  reveal?  Clearly 
that  when  we  pray  we  are  not  to  spend  all  our  time 
and  strength  asking  God  for  material  blessings. 
The  proportions  of  this  model  prayer  teach  us  that 
for  every  single  petition  we  put  up  to  God  for 
material  things  there  should  be  at  least  three  that 
more  glory  shall  be  given  unto  his  name  and  three 
that  our  sins  may  be  forgiven  and  that  we  may 
escape  the  subtle  snare  of  the  Devil. 

By  reasonable  activity  we  can  provide  food, 
clothing  and  shelter.  Let  us  take  more  time  in  our 
prayers  to  thank  God  for  the  opportunity  to  secure 
them,  which  is  a  gift  from  him.  Let  us  ask  him 
for  the  things  w^e  cannot  provide  ourselves  :  forgive- 
ness of  sins,  spiritual  insight,  vision-power,  escape 
from  the  enemies  of  our  soul  life.  These  things 
are  really  worth  praying  for.  We  are  to  pray  much 
and  ask  for  many  things,  but  our  chief  concern 
should  be  that  God's  name  shall  be  glorified,  his 

43 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

kingdom   spread  and  ourselves   delivered   from  all 
kinds  of  evil. 

But  even  this  lofty  conception  of  prayer  is  not 
the  highest.  A  still  higher  position  is  to  look  upon 
it  as  simply  communion  between  the  worshiping 
soul  and  God.  Protesting  against  all  formalism, 
Beecher  said : 

I  remember  that  it  was  a  long  time  before  I  could  get  back 
to  the  habit  of  my  childhood  and  kneel  down  and  pray  with 
any  comfort.  The  moment  I  bent  my  knee  I  also  lost  my 
thread ;  and  the  mechanicalism  of  attempting  to  pray  morn- 
ing, noon  and  night  would  ruin  my  soul,  I  think.  If  I  had  to 
pray  by  the  clock,  if  I  had  to  have  a  mechanical  order,  it 
would  derange  all  my  spiritual  tendencies.  I  could  not  do  it. 
Little  by  little  I  came  to  the  feeling  of  wanting  to  commune 
with  my  Father. 

"To  me,"  said  the  great  preacher,  "prayer  is  not 
stairs  by  which  you  always  start  at  the  same  place 
and  reach  the  same  place  .  .  .  but  to  my 
thought  prayer  is  wings  by  which  a  man  may  go 
just  where  his  own  will  wants  to  go. 
You  never  fulfill  the  apostle's  injunctions.  Tray 
always,'  'Be  instant  in  prayer,'  'Pray  in  season  and 
out  of  season,' — those  things  cannot  be  done,  if 
prayer  is  a  set  act  instead  of  an  evolution  of  feeling 
or  a  holy  ejaculation." 

In  its  very  highest  sense,  then,  prayer  is  com- 
munion with  God.  It  may  be  likened  to  that  com- 
panionship which  marks  ideal  unions  betw^een  man 
and  woman.     In  such  companionship  the  one  is  not 

44 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

constantly  asking  the  other  for  something,  but 
rather  is  telhng  of  his  love  and  praising  the  virtues 
of  the  loved  one;  trying  to  find  out  the  other's  will 
that  he  may  do  it. 

Petitions  are  not  foreign  to  such  communion 
but  they  are  infrequent  and,  when  the  worshiper  is 
praying  to  God,  they  usually  urge  only  that  his 
will  may  be  done.  Fortunate  indeed  are  they  whose 
absolute  confidence  in  God  makes  it  possible  for 
them  to  pray  with  the  ancients : 

Great  God,  grant  us,  we  beseech  thee,  those  things  we  stand 
in  need  of,  whether  we  ask  them  or  not,  and  withhold  those 
things  which  would  be  hurtful  to  us  even  though  we  crave 
them  of  thee. 

This  is  to  reach  the  heights  of  our  Saviour  in 
Gethsemane : 

If  it  be  possible,  let  this  cup  pass  from  me :  nevertheless,  not 
as  I  will,  but  as  thou  wilt. 

Happy  indeed  the  Christian  who  is  not  afraid 
to  tell  God  that  he  wants  what  God  knows  will  be 
best  for  him  even  though  it  means  the  giving  up 
of  some  things  to  which  he  is  clinging  most  tena^ 
ciously. 

With  keen  discrimination  S.  D.  Gordon  says  that, 
while  the  term  prayer  is  commonly  used  for  all 
intercourse  with  God,  it  should  be  kept  in  mind 
that  the  word  covers  and  includes  three  forms  of 
intercourse:    communion,    petition,    intercession. 

45 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

Communion  is  fellowship  with  God.  Not  request  for  some 
particular  thing;  not  asking,  but  simply  enjoying  himself, 
loving  him,  thinking  about  him,  how  beautiful  and  intelligent 
and  strong  and  loving  and  lovable  he  is;  talking  to  him 
without  words.  That  is  the  truest  worship,  thinking  how 
worthy  he  is  of  all  the  best  we  can  possibly  bring  to  him,  and 
infinitely  more.  It  has  to  do  wholly  with  God  and  a  man 
being  on  good  terms  with  each  other.  Of  necessity  it  includes 
confession  on  my  part  and  forgiveness  upon  God's  part,  for 
only  so  can  we  come  into  the  relation  of  fellowship.  Adora- 
tion, worship,  belong  to  this  first  phase  of  prayer.  Communion 
is  the  basis  of  all  prayer. 

Petition  is  definite  request  of  God  for  something  I  need. 
A  man's  whole  life  is  utterly  dependent  upon  the  giving  hand 
of  God.  Everything  we  need  comes  from  him.  Our  friend- 
ships, ability  to  make  money,  health,  strength  in  temptation 
and  in  sorrow,  guidance  in  difficult  circumstances  and  in  all 
of  life's  movements;  help  of  all  sorts,  financial,  bodily,  mental, 
spiritual — all  come  from  God  and  necessitate  a  constant  touch 
with  him. 

True  prayer  never  stops  with  petition  for  oneself.  It 
reaches  out  for  others.  The  very  word  intercession  Implies 
a  reaching  out  for  some  one  else.  It  is  standing  as  a  go- 
between,  a  mutual  friend  between  God  and  some  one  who 
is  either  out  of  touch  with  him  or  Is  needing  special  help. 
Intercession  Is  the  climax  of  prayer.  It  is  the  outward  drive 
of  prayer.  It  is  the  effective  end  of  prayer  outward.  Com- 
munion and  petition  are  upward  and  downward.  Intercession 
rests  upon  these  two  as  Its  foundation.  Communion  and  peti- 
tion store  the  life  with  the  power  of  God;  intercession  lets  it 
out  on  behalf  of  others.  The  first  two  are  necessarily  for 
self;  this  third  is  for  others. 

There  has  ever  been  among  men  a  small  per  cent 
who  scoff  at  the  idea  that  the  requests  of  a  weak 
human  being  upon  this  small  earth  will  influence  the 

46 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

action  of  the  great  God  of  the  universe.  Their 
skepticism  has  kept  aHve  a  question  that  is  still 
asked  in  certain  quarters,  Does  human  prayer  in- 
fluence God?  In  answering  the  question  I  wish  to 
quote  again  from  the  keen  chapters  of  Mr.  Gordon. 

Prayer  does  not  influence  God's  purpose.  It  does  influence 
his  action.  Everything  that  ever  has  been  prayed  for,  of 
course  I  mean  the  right  thing,  God  has  already  purposed  to 
do.  But  he  does  nothing  without  our  consent.  He  has  been 
hindered  in  his  purposes  by  our  lack  of  willingness.  When 
we  learn  his  purposes  and  make  them  our  prayers  we  are 
giving  him  the  opportunity  to  act.  Our  willingness  check- 
mates Satan's  opposition.  It  opens  the  path  to  God  and  rids 
it  of  the  obstacles.  And  so  the  road  is  cleared  for  the  free 
action  already  planned. 

A  swift  journey  through  the  Old  Testament  re- 
veals the  faot  that  many  blessings  came  to  men  in 
response  to  the  prayers  of  the  faithful.  Only  one 
or  two  instances  in  several  classes  will  be  cited : 
Abraham  prayed  and  children  were  born  into  the 
household  of  Abimelech.  Gen.  20:  17.  In  re- 
sponse to  the  prayer  of  Moses  God  quenched  the 
fire  that  burned  the  children  of  Israel  at  Taberah. 
Num.  11:  2.  And  again,  in  response  to  similar 
prayer,  he  provided  escape  from  the  bites  of  the 
fiery  serpents  in  the  land  of  Edom.  Num.  21:7. 
Hannah  prayed  and  God  gave  her  the  motherhood 
of  Samuel,  the  wise  judge  of  Israel.  I  Sam.  1:15. 
The  earnest  prayer  of  Hezekiah  added  fifteen  years 
to  his  useful  life.     Isa.  t,^:  3.     James,  the  apostle, 

47 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

supporting  his  contention  that  the  effectual  fervent 
prayer  of  a  righteous  man  availeth  much,  says : 

Elias  was  a  man  of  like  passions  with  us,  and  he  prayed 
fervently  that  it  might  not  rain;  and  it  rained  not  on  the 
earth  for  three  years  and  six  months.  And  he  prayed  again; 
and  the  heaven  gave  rain,  and  the  earth  brought  forth  her 
fruit.    James  5:  17,  18. 

Surely,  with  our  present  intelligence,  we  will  not 
be  offended  if  answers  to  our  prayers  involve  a  sus- 
pension or  even  an  alteration  of  what  appear  to  us 
to  be  ''the  laws  of  nature."  We  know  so  little  about 
those  laws  that  we  find  we  have  been  led  into  child- 
ish error  about  them  every  day.  Only  a  few  years 
ago  we  said  with  vehemence  that  it  would  be  against 
the  laws  of  nature  for  the  sound  of  the  human  voice 
to  reach  from  New  York  to  Chicago,  but  now  it  is 
done  over  the  telephone  a  thousand  times  every  day ; 
we  used  to  say  that  no  man  could  see  through  solid 
flesh  or  an  inch  of  wood  or  other  opaque  substance, 
but  now  the  X-ray  is  unchecked  by  them;  we  said 
only  a  few  months  ago  that  it  was  against  the  law 
of  nature  for  man  to  fly  through  the  air,  but  recently 
we  have  witnessed  a  fight  from  the  Atlantic  to  the 
Pacific.  If  what  we  call  the  laws  of  nature  are  a 
part  of  the  purpose  of  the  great  God  then  it  is  no 
violation  for  him  to  manipulate  them  as  he  wills  for 
the  welfare  of  cooperating  children. 

But  God  is  not  limited  in  his  working  to  material 
things.     He  has  quite  as  complete  sway  over  minds 

48 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

and  hearts.  It  is  on  record  that  the  prayers  of  an 
aroused  wife  in  the  State  of  Iowa  issued  in  the  con- 
version of  her  unbeHeving  husband  in  Washington 
who  was  at  the  time  a  member  of  Congress  and 
engrossed  in  getting  through  several  special  meas- 
ures; also  that  a  friend  in  Missouri  began  to  pray 
for  the  conversion  of  a  skeptical  professor  in  one 
of  the  great  universities  of  Europe,  and  that,  after 
the  prayer  had  been  answered,  a  comparison  of 
experiences  between  the  friends  revealed  the  fact 
that  the  very  day  the  American  friend  began  to 
pray  the  European  friend  began  to  think  more  fa- 
vorably of  God  and  the  Christian  life.  No  intelligent 
man  will  say  that  all  of  these  things,  and  countless 
others  that  might  be  cited,  are  coincidences.  They 
are  too  unusual,  too  striking,  too  clear.  There  is 
but  one  reasonable  conclusion :  God  does  hear  and 
God  does  answer  the  fervent  prayer  of  his  right- 
eous children.  Prayer  is  the  most  powerful  force 
the  Christian  possesses. 

Old  though  it  be,  this  well-known  word  of  Lord 
Tennyson,  in  his  Idylls  of  the  King,  is  too  fine  to 
be  omitted  from  the  study  we  are  making  here : 

More  things  are  wrought  by  prayer 

Than  this  world  dreams  of.     Wherefore  let  thy  voice 

Rise  like  a  fountain  for  me  night  and  day ; 

For  what  are  men  better  than  sheep  or  goats, 

That  nourish  a  blind  life  within  the  brain, 

If,  knowing  God,  they  lift  not  hands  of  prayer. 

Both  for  themselves  and  those  who  call  them  friends? 

49 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

For  so  the  whole  round  world  is  every  way 

Bound  by  gold   chains  about  the   feet  of  God.  • 

There  is  simply  no  limit  to  the  power  of  prayer. 
All  depends  on  the  faith  and  importunity  of  him 
who  prays.  If  he  convinces  God  of  the  sincerity  of 
his  desires  and  his  willingness  to  cooperate  in  mak- 
ing- their  answer  possible  all  the  power  of  God  is 
on  his  side  and  this  power  no  earthly  forces  can 
withstand. 

For  the  purposes  of  this  study  it  surely  is  not 
irreverent  for  us  to  ask,  What  is  the  value  of  prayer 
to  the  individual?  Are  there  reflex  benefits  of 
which  the  Christian  has  the  right  to  take  account? 
Has  prayer  a  value  in  Christian  culture  ?  To  these 
questions  there  can  be  but  one  answer  and  that  an- 
swer is  strongly  affirmative.  If  there  were  no  direct 
answers  prayer  should  be  the  daily  practice  of  the 
Christian  for  its  reflex  benefits. 

Earnest  prayer  always  enriches  the  life  of  the 
worshiper.  Prayerless  lives  are  generally  crude 
and  sensuous.  The  lifting  up  of  the  thoughts  to 
God,  the  very  coming  into  his  pure  presence,  re- 
bukes man's  sins  and  leads  him  to  pray  much  for 
forgiveness.  Communing  much  with  God  prevents 
elaborating  personal  desires.  God  becomes  more 
and  more  our  ideal  and  we  long  to  be  like  him  in 
knowledge,  righteousness  and  true  holiness.  Ameri- 
can Church  history  is  full  of  instances  wherein 
men  and  women,  denied  the  privilege  of  education 

50 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

and  association  with  cultural  forces,  have  grown 
fine  in  mind  and  heart  by  much  communion  with 
God. 

Beecher  tells  of  a  colored  woman  in  the  South 
whose  power  in  prayer  was  one  of  the  wonders  of 
her  day.  In  ordinary  conversation  she  broke  every 
rule  of  grammar  and  used  the  most  commonplace 
words ;  when  aroused  in  prayer  she  seemed  to  share 
the  gift  of  Pentecost.  Her  very  language  w^as 
changed.  As  her  spirit  rose  she  lifted  the  whole 
audience  with  her.  She  fell  into  the  majestic  lan- 
guage of  the  Old  Testament  and  so  swayed  men's 
hearts  as  to  lead  them  to  say  as  Jacob  said  at  Bethel, 
"Surely  Jehovah  is  in  this  place."  If  as  Dr.  David 
Gregg  says,  ''A  grand,  bold  life  will  produce  grand, 
bold  prayers,"  we  are  led  to  say,  ''Grand  praying 
will  produce  .grand  living ;  the  Christian  who  com- 
munes much  with  God  will  rapidly  become  god- 
like." 

'But  this  is  not  all.  There  is  nothing  which  so 
widens  a  man's  life  and  gives  him  world  visions 
as  does  prayer.  No  man  who  prays  in  earnest  that 
God  will  bring  his  kingdom  to  fullness  on  the  earth 
can  stay  within  the  limits  of  his  own  city  or  even 
his  own  country.  Prayer  leaps  all  boundary  lines 
whether  of  nation  or  race.  The  praying  man  soon 
ascends  the  highest  mountains  and,  looking  out 
over  the  whole  world,  prays  for  it  all  and  throws 
himself  into  winning  it. 

For  the  growing  Christian  daily  prayer  is  a  neces- 
51 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

sity.  It  is,  in  a  sense,  the  food  of  the  soul,  and  the 
prayerless  soul  soon  starves.  If  Christianity  has 
failed  to  beautify  your  life,  if  you  have  not  grow^n 
richer  in  character  and  stronger  in  faith,  question 
yourself  concerning  your  prayers:  have  they  been 
what  they  ought  to  be  ?  have  they  had  a  large  place 
every  day?  Jesus  tells  us  to  pray  much.  To  ask 
in  his  name  for  the  things  we  desire  at  God's  hands, 
and  to  this  command  he  has  added  this  glorious 
promise:  'Tf  ye  abide  in  me,  and  my  words  abide 
in  you,  ask  whatsoever  ye  will,  and  it  shall  be 
done  unto  you." 

We  join  the  company  of  earth's  great  lives  when 
we  begin  to  pray;  not  only  the  great  in  religious 
realms  like  Abraham  and  David  and  Jesus  and  Paul, 
but  the  great  in  material  realms  as  well.  Washing- 
ton wTestled  with  God  at  Valley  Forge  as  Franklin 
had  at  the  calling  of  the  Constitutional  Convention. 
Lincoln  prayed  for  guidance  and  victory  during  the 
awful  days  of  the  Civil  War,  and  McKinley  prayed 
likewise  during  the  war  with  Spain.  Morse,  the  in- 
ventor of  the  telegraph,  never  began  a  great  work 
without  praying  for  divine  guidance  and  never 
achieved  victory  without  giving  all  praise  and  honor 
to  God.  The  mercantile  world  recently  united  in 
honoring  John  Wanamaker  for  his  half  century  in 
successful  business,  but  his  religious  devotion  is  as 
prominent  as  his  business  success. 

Do  not  make  the  unpardonable  mistake  of  think- 
ing that  you  are  too  learned  or  too  prosperous  or 

52 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

too  brilliant  to  pray.  The  greater  truly  great  men 
become  the  more  are  they  able  to  understand  the 
greatness  of  God  and  their  own  need  for  guidance. 
The  greater  they  become  the  more  able  they  are  to 
see  what  really  great  things  God  stands  ready  to 
do  as  soon  as  man  is  willing  to  cooperate  by  re- 
moving obstacles,  and  they  begin  to  pray  that  this 
may  be  done,  that  man  may  be  filled  with  heavenly 
w^isdom  and  moved  to  labor  for  the  welfare  of  the 
whole  race. 

Prayer  is  the  soul's  sincere  desire, 

Uttered  or  unexpressed; 
The  motion  of  a  hidden  fire 

That  trembles   in  the  breast. 

Prayer  is  the  burden  of  a  sigh, 

The  falling  of  a  tear, 
The  upward  glancing  of  an  eye 

When  none  but  God  is  near. 

Prayer  is  the  simplest  form  of  speech 

That  infant  lips  can  try; 
Prayer  the  sublimest  strains  that  reach 

The  Majesty  on  high. 

Prayer  is  the  contrite  sinner's  voice 

Returning  from  his  ways, 
While  angels  in  their  songs  rejoice, 

And  cry,  "Behold,  he  prays." 

Prayer  is  the  Christian's  vital  breath. 

The  Christian's  native  air. 
His  watchword  at  the  gates  of  death; 

He  enters  heaven  with  prayer. 

53 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

O  thou,  by  whom  we  come  to  God, 

The  Life,  the  Truth,  the  Way, 
The  path  of  prayer  Thyself  hast  trod; 

Lord,  teach  us  how  to  pray. 

— James  Montgomery. 


54 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 


Chapter   Four 

PROGRESS  IN  CHRISTIAN  CULTURE: 
BY  SACRIFICE 

On  the  very  threshold  of  Christianity  the  aspiring 
heart  comes  face  to  face  with  a  necessity  as  hard 
and  unyielding  as  it  is  at  first  unwelcome.  He  is 
anxious  to  enter  the  heavenly  comimunity  but  he 
draws  back  from  entering  it  through  a  fiery  fur- 
nace as  a  gateway.  There,  over  the  archway  to  this 
twofold  paradise,  stands  the  inexorable  edict, 
"Terms  of  Entrance — A  Living  Sacrifice."  "But," 
cries  the  haughty  soul,  "I  will  not  sacrifice."  "That 
is  yours  to  choose,"  replies  the  angel  that  keeps  the 
gate,  "but  without  sacrifice  you  cannot  enter,  and 
without  entrance  you  can  have  none  of  the  blessings 
enjoyed  by  those  who  dwell  herein." 

Christ  has  never  yet  deceived  a  soul  that  knocked 
for  entrance  at  the  door  of  his  kingdom.  Instead  of 
covering  up  its  austerities  and  trying  to  make  it  all 
seem  like  a  garden  of  roses  he  almost  ruthlessly,  it 
would  seem,  tears  away  the  covering  and  lets  all 
the  hard  facts  stand  forth.  "If  any  man  would  come 
after  me,  let  him  deny  himself,  and  take  up  his 
cross,    and    follow    me."      How    strangely   similar 

55 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

sounded  the  voice  of  the  ItaHan  general,  Garibaldi, 
eighteen  hundred  years  later,  when,  leading  his  sol- 
diers to  a  forlorn  hope,  he  cried,  'T  have  noth- 
ing to  offer  you  but  hardships :  hunger,  cold,  the 
drenching  storm,  disease,  the  dangers  of  battle, 
death."  And  yet  just  as  those  heroic  patriots  braved 
all  for  their  love  of  Italy  so  do  men  everywhere 
count  it  a  privilege  to  sacrifice  for  Jesus  Christ. 
How  evident  it  is  that  notwithstanding  this  law  that 
stands  as  an  unyielding  frame  through  which  every 
candidate  must  enter  Christianity  is  rapidly  over- 
spreading the  earth,  while  the  religions  that  do  not 
require  it  have  no  virility  and  are  gradually  pining 
away.  On  its  face  the  fact  seems  unexplainable 
and  every  enquiring  mind  is  eager  to  discover  the 
secret. 

Seeking  the  origin  of  the  law  of  sacrifice  one 
must  go  back  of  Christ,  the  most  perfect  example, 
for  sacrifice  was  the  chief  element  in  the  Jewish 
ritual ;  he  must  go  back  of  the  tabernacle,  for  some- 
thing moved  Abraham,  the  father  of  all  the  faithful, 
to  offer  up  his  only  son  to  God ;  he  must  go  back  of 
Abraham,  for  the  first  sons  of  Adam  brought  their 
sacrifices  to  Jehovah.  Can  it  be,  then,  that  the  law 
of  sacrifice  is  not  arbitrarily  imposed  by  Christ  upon 
his  followers — that  it  is  one  of  the  laws  of  the 
universe,  like  adhesion  and  gravitation?  All  the 
scientific  investigations  of  the  day  proclaim  this  to 
be  a  fact.  No  life  exists  that  has  not  been  preceded 
by  other  life  that  made  sacrifices  to  bring  it  into 

56 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN   CULTURE 

existence.  The  first  cell  of  a  living  thing  grows  by 
taking  sustenance  until  the  center  is  too  far  removed 
from  the  walls  to  gain  the  food  it  needs.  Only  two 
courses  open  before  it :  The  cell  must  either  die 
or  sacrifice  its  individual  life  that  two  smaller  cells 
may  live.  To  these  in  tufn  the  unyielding  alterna- 
tive is  presented,  and  the  process  goes  on  in  infinite 
series  until  all  the  organisms  of  the  universe  come 
into  being. 

There  is  only  one  farther  step  in  this  investigation 
which  man  can  take,  but  it  is  the  step  which  instantly 
clears  the  mystery  and  makes  us  fly  to  sacrifice  as  to 
a  precious  privilege :  Back  of  Christ,  back  of  the 
temple,  back  of  Abraham,  back  of  the  sons  of  Adam, 
God  sacrificed  before  the  foundations  of  the  earth 
were  laid ;  and — because  man  is  in  the  image  of  God, 
in  all  the  higher  elements  of  his  nature,  and  in 
proportion  as  godly  qualities  are  allowed  to  act 
within  him — he  also  sacrifices,  that  God's  kingdom 
may  come  and  his  wall  be  done,  as  in  heaven,  so  on 
earth. 

O  subtle  evidence  of  the  spirit  of  God  in  man! 
O  exalted  appeal  to  the  highest  instincts  in  man's 
soul !  What  man  is  walling  to  be  selfish  when  being 
so  is  an  open  indication  of  how  far  he  is  from  God! 
When  being  so  proclaims  him  an  ingrate  in  face  of 
God's  infinite  sacrifice  for  him!  When  being  so  is 
to  shut  in  his  own  face  the  doors  that  open  an 
exalted  and  noble  life  here  upon  earth!  How  fully 
Carlyle  caught  the  secret  of  this  exalted  mystery : 

57 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

It  is  only  with  renunciations  that  Ufe,  properly  speaking, 
can  be  said  to  begin.  In  a  vaHant  suffering  for  others,  not 
in  a  slothful  making  others  suffer  for  us,  did  nobleness 
ever  lie. 

Whyte  Melville  says : 

"You  talk  of  self  as  the  motive  to  exertion.  I  tell  you  that 
it  is  abnegation  of  self  which  has  wrought  out  all  that  is 
noble,  all  that  is  good,  all  that  is  useful,  nearly  all  that  is 
ornamental  in  the  world." 

Dr.  Hillis  says : 

"Speaking  not  as  an  amateur  but  as  a  master,  Christ 
affirms  that  he  who  would  save  his  life  must  lose  it; 
that  he  who  would  be  remembered  by  others  must  forget 
himself;  that  the  soldier  who  flees  from  danger  to  save 
his  body  shall  leave  that  life  upon  the  battle  field,  while  he 
who  plunges  his  banner  into  the  very  thick  of  the  fight  and 
is  carried  off  the  field  on  his  shield  shall  in  safety  bear  his 
life  away.  Hard  seem  the  terms;  they  rebuke  ease;  they 
smite  self-indulgence;  they  deny  the  maxims  of  the  worldly 
wise.  But  in  accepting  Christ's  principle  and  forsaking  their 
palaces  that  they  might  be  as  brothers  to  beggars,  Xavier  and 
Loyola  found  an  exhilaration  denied  to  kings ;  while  each 
Sir  Launfal,  in  his  ease  denied  the  Holy  Grail,  has  in  the 
hour  of  self-sacrifice  discerned  the  Vision  Splendid.  To 
each  young  patriot  and  soldier,  looking  eagerly  unto  the 
tablets  that  commemorate  the  deeds  of  heroes,  to  each  young 
scholar  aspiring  to  a  place  beside  the  sages,  comes  the  word  : 
'Life  is  through  death,  and  immortal  renown  through  self- 
renunciation.'  " 

To  what  extreme  limits  did  our  Saviour  go  in 
accepting  the  necessity  of  sacrifice!  nay,  how  abso- 

58 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

lutely  did  he  rob  necessity  of  its  chains  and  by  the 
alchemy  of  love  change  its  very  nature  into  wel- 
comed privilege !  Not  even  where  it  cost  him  most 
did  he  put  his  children  forth  to  an  experience  he 
himself  had  not  tasted.  "Come,"  cried  the  world, 
"and  we  will  give  you  crown  and  scepter !  You  have 
the  presence,  you  have  the  powers;  w^e  have  the 
allegiance  wherewith  to  make  you  king  of  Israel." 
Was  ever  such  flattery  and  temptation  brought  to 
bear  upon  a  man  who  did  not  yield  ?  What  visions 
of  luxury  and  power!  No  more  coarse  food,  no 
more  nights  without  a  pillow,  no  more  rags,  no  more 
abuse  from  the  idle  rich,  but  in  their  stead  splendor, 
adoration,  a  scepter  whose  slightest  movement  is 
obeyed,  while  the  glory  of  Israel  is  gradually  re- 
stored. Why  not?  Would  this  not  accomplish  his 
purpose  just  as  rapidly  and  as  well  ?  Oh,  no  !  Here 
is  a  Master  who  insists  upon  tasting  the  experiences 
of  his  humblest  servant.  Shall  he  who  knows  so 
well  the  weakening  influences  of  luxury,  the 
strengthening  cordial  of  sacrifice,  take  the  luxury 
and  fail,  while  he  may  take  the  sacrifice  and  gain 
immortal  mastery?  "Get  thee  behind  me,  Satan." 
"Man  shall  not  live  by  bread  alone."  And  then 
steadily,  step  by  step,  he  trod  the  path  of  sacrifice 
until  it  ended  on  Calvary  and  Christ  tasted  death 
for  every  man. 

When  you  ask  what  it  is  that  draws  all  men  to- 
ward Christ  the  answ^er  is  not  far  away.  We  ad- 
mire his  manhood,   we  revel   in  his   ability  to  be 

59 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

natural,  we  cannot  turn  away  from  his  exercise  of 
love  and  mercy,  but  we  see  in  a  moment  that  none 
of  these  could  be  were  it  not  for  a  more  glorious 
virtue  that  is  the  mother  of  them  all — his  sacrifice 
of  all  things  for  those  he  loved.  And  let  it  be  said 
plainly  wherever  this  story  is  told,  whether  men 
ever  acknowledge  Christ  or  not,  whether  they  ever 
take  advantage  of  his  service  or  not:  Christ  has 
sacrificed  enough  for  every  man  to  open  for  him  the 
way  to  heaven  on  its  godward  side.  It  only  remains 
for  man  to  take  down  the  bars  on  his  own  side. 

So  dark  and  bloody  is  the  page  of  religious  his- 
tory in  Spain  that  we  grasp  at  every  ray  of  light 
as  the  drowning  man  grasps  a  straw.  The  idea  that 
dominated  Spanish  Catholicism  in  the  middle  ages 
was  penance  rather  than  repentance.  Penance  would 
save  the  soul  though  surrounding  it  with  gloom, 
bodily  torture,  isolation,  withdrawal  from  the 
world's  helpful  activities.  Forbidding  as  were  the 
conditions  many  souls,  weary  of  life  or  weighted 
clown  by  a  sense  of  sin,  withdrew  from  the  world, 
entered  the  convent  and  gave  themselves  up  to  holy 
meditation. 

In  the  midst  of  this  gloomy  atmosphere  a  young 
girl,  Theresa,  determined  to  become  a  nun.  She 
was  young,  beautiful,  fond  of  society,  even  giddy 
and  worldly;  but  seized  with  fear  of  eternal  pun- 
ishment she  determined  to  renounce  the  world  and 
strive  by  endless  penance  to  regain  the  favor  of 
God.     It  was  a  long  and  weary  struggle.     Weak- 

60 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

ness  and  disease  added  to  her  torture,  yet  so  servile 
was  her  fear  that  she  would  not  quit  the  convent 
and  venture  again  upon  the  life  of  the  world.  Her 
sins  were  never  mortal — they  were  chiefly  those  of 
a  wayward  nature  wishing  for  experiences  out  of 
harmony  with  the  elevated  life  she  craved — yet  so 
sensitve  was  her  conscience  that  these  childish  sins 
gave  her  more  misery  than  theft  or  even  murder 
would  more  callous  souls.  Twenty  years  passed 
by, — twenty  years  of  self-renunciation  and  sacri- 
fice,— when  suddenly  the  whole  aspect  of  her  life 
changed.  The  ''Confessions  of  St.  Augustine"  fall- 
ing into  her  hands  she  eagerly  read  of  his  conver- 
sion, and  for  the  first  time  the  idea  that  God  loves 
a  child  while  that  child  is  still  in  rebellion  flashed 
upon  her  soul.  Then  God  loved  her  now — had  been 
loving  her  during  all  these  years  of  sacrifice  made 
to  gain,  not  his  love,  but  barely  his  forgiveness ! 
The  idea  transformed  her,  softened  her  nature, 
sweetened  her  life  and  multiplied  her  natural  power 
of  song.     In  ecstasy  she  sang: 

Absent  from  thee,  my  Saviour  dear ! 

I  call  not  life  this  living  here, 

Oh,  Lord,  my  light  and  living  breath! 

Take  me,  oh,  take  me  from  this  death! 

And  burst  the  bars  that  sever  me 

From  my  true  life  above! 

Think  how  I   die  thy  face  to  see, 

And  cannot  live  away  from  thee. 


6i 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

Henceforth  she  was  bathed  in  the  glory  of  her 
Lord  and  her  face  ^hbne  with  the  radiance  of 
heaven.  She  was  beloved  by  everybody,  venerated 
for  her  virtues  as  well  as  for  her  spiritual  elevation. 
Her  intellectual  gifts  became  as  remarkable  as  her 
piety,  her  conversation  was  charming  and  she  drew 
the  greatest  people  of  the  age  around  her.  She  never 
claimed  perfection,  but  the  age  in  which  she  lived 
loved  and  venerated  her  only  second  to  the  Holy 
Virgin.^ 

Twenty  years  of  self-renunciation  to  gain  a  char- 
acter that  charmed  and  elevated  the  world  and  won 
the  signal  favor  of  God !  If  the  price  seems  large, 
consider  the  glorious  possession ;  an  immortal  name 
on  earth;  a  fadeless  crown  in  heaven;  the  eternal 
favor  of  the  Prince  of  Peace. 

Sacrifice  brings  out  and  increases  the  beauty  of 
character  as  cutting  and  polishing  reveals  the  glories 
of  precious  stones.  A  diamond  worth  between  two 
and  three  millions  of  dollars  was  recently  found  in 
South  Africa,  but  in  its  present  form  it  is  un- 
salable. To  give  it  commercial  value  it  must  be 
mercilessly  cut,  though  each  division  reduces  its 
total  value  thousands  of  dollars.  The  more  it  sub- 
mits to  the  lapidary's  chafing  the  greater  will  be  its 
utility  and  glory  when  it  finds  its  way  into  the  marts 
of  trade.  There  are  many  diamonds  among  men 
and  women  of  our  state.    They  have  a  worthy  an- 

^Condensed  from  the  lectures  of  John  Lord. 
62 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

cestry,  noble  bodies,  minds  capable  of  marvelous 
achievements,  but  at  present  they  are  of  little  value 
to  society  because  of  crudeness  or  of  some  glaring 
defect. 

Perhaps  the  defect  is  pride — not  the  noble  pride 
in  the  fact  of  divine  relationship  and  self-consecra- 
tion to  the  needs  of  men,  but  that  petty,  shameless 
pride  in  place  or  birth  or  present  possession,  that  of 
all  things  makes  one  ashamed  of  the  race  to  which  he 
belongs.  How  one  feels  like  crying  out  to  such 
with  Wordsworth : 

Know  that  pride, 
Howe'er  disguised  in  its  own  majesty, 
Is  littleness;  that  he  who  feels  contempt 
For  any  living  thing,  hath  faculties 
Which  he  has  never  used ;  that  thought  with  him 
Is  in  its  ^infancy.     The  man  whose  eye 
Is  ever  on  himself  doth  look  on  one, 
The  least  of  nature's  works,  one  who  might  move 
The  wise  man  to  that  scorn  which  wisdom  holds 
Unlawful  ever.     Oh,  be  wiser,  thou. 
Instructed  that  true  knowledge  leads  to  love; 
True  dignity  abides  with  him  alone 
Who,  in  the  silent  hour  of  inward  thought, 
Can  still  suspect,  and  still  revere  himself. 
In  lowliness  of  thought. 

Or  mayhap  the  present  defect  is  selfishness  that 
makes  the  possessor  one  of  those  spongelike  charac- 
ters that  suck  in  every  adjacent  thing  but  give  noth- 
ing forth  until  they  are  squeezed;  heavy,  soggy, 
borne  along  by  the  servants  of  men  as  a  bowlder  is 

63 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

borne  on  the  surface  of  a  glacier,  doing  none  of 
the  work,  only  adding  to  the  burden  of  the  toiling 
masses.  How  they  do  need  to  be  shamed  out  of 
their  sin!  Selfishness  always  leads  to  self-indul- 
gence, and  that  which  might  be  both  beautiful  and 
useful  is  instead  hideous  and  valueless. 

Some  of  us  ought  to  pray  tO'  God  for  chastening 
instead  of  more  caressing.  He  has  blessed  us  and 
blessed  us  and  blessed  us,  and  we  have  become  more 
and  more  self -centered  and  hateful,  until  nothing 
but  deep  experiences  will  correct  our  errors.  Per- 
haps Holland  was  right  when  he  sang : 

Hearts  like  apples  are  hard  and  sour 
Till  crushed  by  time's  resistless  power 
And  yield  their  juices  rich  and  bland 
To  none  but  sorrow's  heavy  hand. 

Let  us  not  draw  back  from  the  sterner  experiences 
of  life.  They  often  contain  the  very  grains  of  gold 
we  crave.  As  we  advance  from  youth  all  is  light- 
ness and  gayety.  We  would  not  have  it  otherwise, 
for  the  instincts  drawing  us  toward  it  are  God- 
planted,  but  as  we  go  from  youth  to  middle  age  a 
change  creeps  over  us  which,  even  if  we  do  not  see 
it,  is  nevertheless  very  evident  to  our  friends.  Some 
go  on  until  their  gayety  becomes  frivolity  and  life 
for  them  is  either  a  round  of  pleasure  or  an  insuf- 
ferable bore.  Others  through  disappointment  be- 
come crabbed  and  morose.     Life  to  them  has  be- 

64 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

come  a  treadmill  and  men  are  disposed  to  let  them 
tread  alone. 

But  there  are  others  who,  spoiled  neither  by  much 
joy  or  by  bitter  disappointment,  are  wont  to  fulfill 
their  duties  honorably  from  day  to  day,  the  un- 
pleasant as  well  as  the  pleasant  ones.  They  bear 
sorrows  and  share  joys  as  the  days  may  bring  them. 
These  are  they  toward  whom  we  are  drawn  irre- 
sistibly. It  requires  no  skilled  lapidary  to  discover 
beauty  in  a  rich  character.  Cover  it  as  he  will  the 
glory  shines  forth,  as  did  the  glory  of  the  Lord  on 
the  Mount  of  Transfiguration.  Watch  the  beauty 
creep  into  the  life  of  that  devout  woman  to  whom 
falls  the  care  of  an  aged  invalid.  She  has  had  trials 
enough  before,  say  some — but  perhaps  they  do  not 
know.  God  may  have  larger  things  in  store  for  her 
as  her  life  becomes  richer.  Oh,  the  endlessness  of 
those  arduous  duties.  Now  the  patient  is  petulant 
and  exacting,  now  ungrateful,  now  complaining, 
then  sweet  again  and  yielding  as  an  infant.  But  the 
life  at  that  bedside!  Why  does  she  stay?  There  are 
pleasanter  places  and  more  welcome  duties,  and 
surely  she  is  entitled  to  them.  She  stays  because 
she  is  a  bit  of  God  incarnate.  She  has  caught  the 
Master's  spirit;  and  though  many  would  take  her 
and  make  her  a  queen,  she  prefers  to  renounce  it  all 
and  be  a  servant.  The  love  in  her  heart  is  show- 
ing more  and  more  in  her  face,  for  we  can  no  more 
conceal  good  qualities  than  we  can  bad  ones. 

Said  an  aged  mother,  during  the  last  days  of  her 
6s 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

life,  to  a  faithful  friend  who  had  cared  for  her  for 
twenty  years  as  a  mother  cares  for  a  baby,  'T  will 
tell  mother  how  good  you  have  been  to  me  the  mo- 
ment I  meet  her  in  heaven."  It  would  be  worth 
some  sacrifice,  do  you  not  think,  to  have  your  good 
works -spoken  of  in  heaven?  ''Inasmuch  as  ye  did 
it  unto  one  of  these  my  brethren,  even  these  least,  ye 
did  it  unto  me." 

But  there  is  one  other  phase  of  this  whole  sub- 
ject upon  which  I  wish  to  touch.  Originally  sacri- 
fice involved  the  death  of  the  victim.  It  was  so  in 
Israel.  Christ  so  practiced  it.  In  all  cases  it  is  sup- 
posed to  mean  the  giving  up  of  much. 

Does  it  not  seem,  in  face  of  what  we  have  just 
seen,  that  what  Christ  asks  us  to  give  up  to  become 
Christians  hardly  deserves  the  name  of  sacrifice? 
Is  it  not  more  like  saying  to  man :  "Throw  away 
the  dirt  that  is  in  your  pocket  and  I  will  fill  it  with 
gold"?  He  asks  us  to  give  up  unbelief;  all  unclean- 
ness,  all  evil  speaking  and  thinking ;  to  give  up  those 
practices  only  that  injure  us.  In  place  of  these  he 
binds  himself  to  give  us  a  home  in  heaven,  peace  on 
earth,  increasing  worth  in  character  and  life. 

When  the  wild  orange  was  brought  from  the 
woods  into  richly  cultivated  gardens  it  chafed  under 
the  limitations  existing  there.  It  had  little  room  to 
spread  itself,  the  space  given  to  its  roots  was  so 
small,  but — worse  than  this — the  gardener  ruthlessly 
cut  away  its  branches ;  under  the  sharp  pruning 
knife  it  was  forced  to  give  up  half  its  leaves;  it  was 

66 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

also  forced  to  furnish  sap  to  alien  sprouts  grafted 
into  its  lacerated  sides.  The  sacrifice  seemed  un- 
bearable. But  hardly  had  the  second  season  passed 
until  that  chafing  shrub  began  to  notice  the  richer 
fragrance  of  its  own  blossoms  and  fruit.  Sacrifice 
for  one  season  had  transformed  its  life  and  turned 
barrenness  into  fertility,  a  useless  thing  into  a 
treasure.  Why  can  we  not  look  upon  the  sacrifices 
required  of  us  as  blessings  in  disguise,  and  allow 
their  enriching  influences  to  have  their  perfect 
work  ? 

Is  it  not  after  all  a  question  of  recognizing  God's 
superior  wisdom  and  love  and  the  desirability  of  the 
best  gifts?  With  what  poor  possessions  most  of  us 
are  willing  to  be  satisfied !  A  mind  half  cultivated 
and  poorly  stored ;  a  heart  all  selfish  and  unsympa- 
thetic; a  soul  groping  in  the  dimness  of  limited 
spiritual  vision,  while  all  around  us  stand  noble 
virtues  knocking  for  admission  into  our  lives 
through  the  gateway  of  sacrifice ! 

If  the  student  must  sacrifice  much  to  gain  the 
knowledge  he  craves;  if  the  artist  must  sacrifice  to 
add  nimbleness  to  fingers  and  steadiness  to  his 
nerves  ;  if  the  statesman  must  sacrifice  to  gain  power 
and  influence  that  he  may  shape  the  policies  of  na- 
tions, why  should  we  complain  if  to  secure  the  best 
gifts  in  God's  kingdom  we  are  asked  to  give  up 
some  of  the  things  to  which  we  have  been  clinging, 
things  which,  if  we  hold  on  to  them,  are  sure  to 
bring  us  injury? 

67 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

The  church  of  Jesus  is  suffering  to-day  because 
the  law  of  sacrifice  is  being  disregarded  by  so  many 
of  her  children.  How  few  are  wiUing  to  sacrifice 
a  personal  comfort  that  the  treasury  of  the  Lord's 
house  may  be  less  barren.  ''A  tithe  is  mine,"  saith 
the  Lord,  and  the  man  who  withholds  it  is  guilty 
of  robbing  God.  How  pathetic  the  picture  of  the 
rich  young  ruler  who,  seeking  larger  life,  was  told 
that  to  gain  it  he  must  put  away  his  vast  posses- 
sions, take  up  his  cross  and  follow  the  Saviour.  He 
went  away  sorrowing,  and  we  can  only  conjecture 
what  came  after;  but  we  can  see  in  mental  vision  the 
lines  hardening  around  the  mouth,  his  nature  becom- 
ing more  grasping,  his  disposition  more  miserly  un- 
til the  once  promising  youth  has  become  a  selfish 
and  brutal  old  man,  interested  only  in  the  things 
which  perish  with  the  using.  He  kept  his  money, 
but  he  lost  the  image  of  his  God. 

How  few  are  willing  to  sacrifice  personal  com- 
fort that  the  Lord's  house  may  have  workers  in 
every  field!  Has  an  hour's  lounging  become  more 
to  us  than  the  nurture  of  childish  life  or  the  joy  of 
a  lonely  heart  made  glad  by  our  presence  and 
interest?  Well,  we  may  stay  at  home  and  lounge 
about  all  day  if  we  will,  but  if  the  kingdom  of 
God  loses  a  little,  we  lose  infinitely  more.  Surely 
there  is  nothing  more  pathetic  than  a  barren  human 
soul.   An  unlighted  lamp-post  is  a  paradise  beside  it. 

Even  Jonah  on  his  way  to  Tarshish  must  pay  the 
fare.      The   palaces   of   the    New   Jerusalem   may 

68 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

tower  above  us  invitingly  and  seem  only  a  step 
away,  but  no  man  may  enter  in  without  self-sacri- 
fice. The  rich  characters  of  the  world  chami  us 
and  in  our  aspiring  hours  we  cry  out  to  them,  "Re- 
veal to  us  your  secret."  Then  do  they  whisper: 
*Tf  we  are  worthy,  it  is  because  we  have  kept  our 
bodies  under,  because  we  have  given  free  reign  to 
our  souls,  because  we  have  sacrificed  the  present 
comfort  for  the  future  glory,  because  we  have  per- 
formed the  unpleasant  as  well  as  the  pleasant  duties 
of  our  lives  with  equal  readiness  and  fidelity.  We 
simply  let  the  godlike  impulses  in  us  act." 

Shall  we  not  change  the  wording  of  our  prayers 
just  a  little?  Let  us  not  pray  only  and  all  the  time 
that  God  shall  bless  us,  but  that  he  will  give  us  the 
courage  to  sacrifice  for  him.  Shall  we  not  with 
Phillips  Brooks  cease  to  pray  for  duties  equal  to 
our  powers  and  begin  to  pray  for  powers  equal  to 
our  duties?  Shall  we  not  cease  asking  for  easy 
lives  and  ask  rather  for  natures  ready  to  meet  what- 
ever God  in  his  providence  shall  send,  allowing  each 
experience  to  have  in  us  its  perfect  work?  Shall  we 
not  ask  God  to  teach  us  the  full  meaning  of  that 
mighty  word  of  Jesus:  "He  that  findeth  his  life 
shall  lose  it;  and  he  that  loseth  his  life  for  my  sake 
shall  find  it"? 


69 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 


Chapter  Five 

PROGRESS  IN  CHRISTIAN  CULTURE: 
BY  SERVICE 

There  are,  in  each  human  Hfe,  two  spheres  that 
may  be  distinctly  bounded  and  defined.  They  bear 
a  vital  relationship,  the  second  really  growing  out  of 
the  first,  and  yet  they  no  more  mingle  than  the  soil 
mingles  with  the  plant ;  they  are  no  more  one  than 
the  rose  and  the  earth  out  of  which  the  fragrant 
flower  so  luxuriantly  grows.  I  speak  of  the  spheres 
called  thought  and  action.  Thought  is  internal  and 
wholly  personal.  Action,  though  growing  out  of 
thought,  is  external  and  usually  bears  upon  other 
lives. 

The  sphere  of  man's  thought  is  glorious  to  con- 
template. It  is  as  large  as  his  knowledge  and  experi- 
ence and  its  eye  has  the  ease  and  swiftness  of  move- 
ment of  the  electric  spark.  In  the  sphere  of  thought 
every  educated  man  is  a  millionaire ;  the  four  quar- 
ters of  the  earth  are  his,  the  sea  and  sky  and  all  that 
is  in  them.  He  delves  into  the  mines  and  caves 
of  the  earth  and  weighs  and  measures  suns  and 
worlds  he  may  never  touch ;  from  Etna  to  Vesuvius 
is  but  a  span  which  the  mind  clears  in  a  hundredth 


PROGRESS   IN   CHRISTIAN   CULTURE 

part  the  time  it  takes  the  haking  tongue  to  give  it 
utterance.  All  known  truth,  too,  is  his,  and  the 
mind  plays  with  those  mighty  forces  called  Morality, 
Duty,  Faith,  Obedience,  as  the  child  plays  with  dolls 
and  blocks  and  is  by  them  no  more  dismayed. 

After  contemplating  this  majestic  sphere  of 
thought  which,  in  each  man's  life,  is  bounded  only 
by  his  largest  learning  and  experience,  how  pathetic 
it  is,  in  the  vast  majority  of  cases,  to  view  the 
sphere  of  his  action.  Many  a  man  who  in  thought 
is  a  millionaire  girdling  the  earth  with  swift  and 
certain  stride,  in  action  is  a  poor  pauper  tilling  only 
his  acre  and  his  barnyard !  One  is  led  ^o  think  it 
was  to  this  last  class  that  James  addressed  his  well- 
known  injunction,  ^'Be  ye  doers  of  the  word,  and 
not  hearers  only."  For  in  his  day  men  w^ere  hear- 
ing and  giving  mental  assent  to  the  loftiest  princi- 
ples and  sentiments,  but  no  evidence  of  them  ap- 
peared in  their  daily  actions ;  the  ponderous  and  ma- 
jestic history  of  Moses;  the  exalted  life  philosophy 
of  Job  and  of  Solomon;  the  inspiring  spiritual  songs 
of  David  and  the  sons  of  Asaph ;  they  heard  them 
all  and  pronounced  them  excellent  and  then  went 
forth  to  break  every  command  and  disregard  every 
injunction. 

One  fears  that  the  men  and  women  of  America 
are  guilty  of  the  same  sins.  In  no  nation  do  men 
hear  more  truth  or  more  freely  confess  that  it  ought 
to  be  observed;  in  no  nation  is  this  same  truth  so 
universally   disregarded.    In   his   own   heart   every 

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PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

man  confesses  that  man  ought  to  observe  the  Sab- 
bath day ;  that  he  ought  to  Hve  a  pure  and  unspotted 
Hfe;  that  he  ought  to  be  sympathetic  and  generous 
and  "do  unto  others  as  he  would  have  others  do  unto 
him,"  but  alas !  he  soon  turns  from  the  mirror  and 
forgets  what  manner  of  man  he  is !  To  all  such 
James  cries :  ''Be  ye  doers  of  the  word,  and  not 
hearers  only." 

Consider  for  a  moment  what  this  Word  is  you  are 
called  upon  to  observe.  It  is  not  a  bundle  of  nursery 
rimes  nor  an  opinion  from  a  judge's  bench;  it  is 
not  the  effusion  of  a  modern  daily  newspaper;  not 
even  the  minutes  of  a  session  of  Congress.  It  is  a 
Word  that  transcends  all  other  utterances  as  the 
gold  transcends  the  rock  in  which  it  is  embedded; 
it  is  the  all-embracing,  unchanging,  life-giving 
Word  of  Almighty  God,  Creator  and  Governor  of 
the  universe. 

The  wise  man  will  give  this  Word  the  place  in 
his  life  to  which  it  is  entitled !  It  is  not  enough  that 
we  receive  it  and  give  mental  assent  to  its  com- 
mands; it  is  not  enough  to  recognize  and  rave  over 
the  beauty  of  its  diction  or  the  loftiness  of  its 
philosophy;  it  is  not  even  enough  to  confess  that  it 
is  the  Word  of  God;  it  is  our  duty,  it  should  be  our 
highest  privilege,  to  obey  this  Word,  to  study  its 
bearing  upon  human  life,  to  apply  its  lofty  life 
philosophy  to  our  every  action. 

James  makes  very  clear  what  we  itre  easily  per- 
suaded to  believe,  that  man  is  the  very  pinnacle  of 

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PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN   CULTURE 

God's  creation,  "Of  his  own  will  he  brought  us 
forth  by  the  word  of  truth,  that  we  should  be  a  kind 
of  first-fruits  of  his  creatures."^  How  ready  we  are 
to  believe  this  and  to  assume  command  in  accordance 
with  it !  On  the  physical  side,  ever  since  the  Crea- 
tion pictured  in  Genesis,  man  has  considered  him- 
self lord  of  creation  and  has  acted  accordingly,  and 
yet,  so  far  short  do  w^e  fall  of  what  we  might  be, 
morally  and  spiritually,  of  w^hat  God  intended  we 
should  be,  that  our  failure  fairly  stuns  the  thought- 
ful mind  and  fills  it  with  shame  and  with  confusion. 

Unable  to  make  man  what  he  desired  him  to  be 
by  precept,  God  added  to  his  glorious  precept  a  more 
glorious  example.  The  thinking  mind  does  not 
doubt  for  a  moment  that  Jesus  of  Nazareth  was 
God's  idea  of  what  a  man  should  be.  Perfect  in  his 
faith,  pure  ip.  his  life,  boundless  in  his  sympathies, 
constant  in  his  devotion  to  the  w^elfare  of  society 
and  the  uplift  of  mankind.  No  man  can  study 
intently  the  character  of  Jesus  without  a  fuller  com- 
prehension of  what  God's  message  to  his  life 
should  be. 

The  amazing  thing  about  man  is  that,  entering 
the  sphere  of  thought  as  far  as  Jesus  did,  his 
entrance  into  the  sphere  of  action,  as  compared  with 
Jesus,  should  be  so  poor  and  beggarly.  It  is  cer- 
tainly no  irreverence  to  say  that  man  understands 
the  value  of  sympathy  as  fully  as  Jesus  did  and  yet 
how  little  he  exercises  it !  that  he  comprehends  the 

^James  i :  i8. 

73 


PROGRESS    IN   CHRISTIAN   CULTURjE 

possibility  and  desirability  of  human  virtue  as  fully 
as  Jesus  did  and  yet  how  crude  and  imperfect  he 
allows  his  life  to  be!  It  is  not  a  fault  of  under- 
standing; it  is  a  fault  of  execution. 

Shall  we  not  enlarge  our  sphere  of  action  until  it 
shall,  in  fuller  measure,  harmonize  with  our  sphere 
of  thought?  The  question  of  Christian  living  in 
this  day  is  not  whether  we  believe  this  disputed  doc- 
trine or  that,  but,  are  we  living  up  to  the  full  measure 
of  what  we  do  most  surely  know  and  do  most  freely 
confess?  not  whether  we  believe  this  little  point  or 
that  in  the  meager  report  we  have  of  Christ's  life  on 
earth  but,  rather,  are  we  confessing  the  great  funda- 
mental fact  of  his  existence  and  his  lofty  mission, 
and  are  we  doing  our  best  to  continue  in  his  word 
and  finish  his  work. 

I  know  of  no  man  in  America  whose  sphere  of 
action  harmonized  more  perfectly  with  his  sphere 
of  thought  than  did  that  of  Phillips  Brooks.  Over 
and  over  and  over  again  he  said  to  the  vast  com- 
pany that  hung  upon  his  words  : 

Be  the  noblest  men  your  present  faith,  poor  and  weak  and 
imperfect  as  it  is,  can  make  you  to  be.  Live  up  to  your  present 
growth,  your  present  faith.  So  and  so  only,  as  you  take  the 
next  straight  step  forward,  as  you  stand  strong  where  you 
are  now,  so  only  can  you  think  the  curtain  will  draw  back 
and  there  will  be  revealed  to  you  what  lies  beyond.  And 
then  live  in  your  positives  and  not  in  your  negatives. 

In  the  working  out  of  this  positive  life,  in  striving 
to  do  the  things  we  hear  and  know  to  be  true,  two 

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PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

forms  of  activity  will  be  very  prominent:  first,  we 
will  do  all  we  can  with  our  own  hands  and  brain  to 
help  those  in  need,  we  w^ill  try  to  be  Christlike  in 
kindly  service;  and  second,  we  will  give  all  we  can 
of  substance  and  material  strength  that  our  arm  may 
be  lengthened  to  do  a  larger  work. 

The  teachings  of  James  have  been  charmingly 
put  in  verse  by  Edmund  Vance  Cooke: 

So  he  died  for  his  faith.    That  is  fine. 

More  than  most  of  us  do. 
But  stay.     Can  you  add  to  that  line 
That  he  lived  for  it,  too? 

It  is  easy  to  die.     Men  have  died 

For  a  v^ish  or  a  whim — 
From  bravado  or  passion  or  pride. 

Was  it  hard  for  him? 

But  to  live :  every  day  to  live  out 

All  the  truth  that  he  dreamt, 
While  his  friends  met  his  conduct  with  doubt, 

And  the  world  with  contempt. 

Was  it  thus  that  he  plodded  ahead, 

Never  turning  aside? 
Then  we'll  talk  of  the  life  that  he  led. 

Never  mind  how  he  died. 

Originally  all  service  was  face  to  face.  The  good 
Samaritan  tied  up  the  wounds  of  the  broken  body 
on  the  Jericho  road.  That  was  his  first  duty.  Only 
after  he  had  done  all  he  could  with  his  own  hands 

75 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

did  he  give  of  his  money  that  others  might  render 
similar  service  when  he  was  far  away. 

I  have  seen  a  Christian  woman  go  into  the  home 
of  squalor  and  want  and  render  the  noblest  service 
known  among  men.  The  sick  child  was  taken  out  of 
the  arms  of  the  ignorant  and  shiftless  mother,  made 
clean  and  sweet  and  comfortable,  satisfied  with 
wholesome  food,  and  then  rocked  to  the  first  normal 
sleep  it  had  enjoyed  for  weeks.  I  have  seen  this 
angel  of  mercy  go  on  then  to  scrub  and  garnish  the 
unkept  house,  wash  dishes  caked  with  refuse  from 
many  hasty  meals,  air  the  bedding  saturated  with 
the  smoke  and  the  smell  of  poorly  cooked  food,  let 
God's  sunshine  do  its  cleansing  and  purifying  work 
in  rooms  long  shut  up  like  tombs.  I  have  seen  such 
pathetic  abodes  transformed  by  the  sacrificial  touch 
of  Christlike  women  and  I  have  said  wnth  joy, 
"These  women  are  doers  of  the  Word,  and  not 
hearers  only."  ''Angels  of  mercy"  is  the  right 
phrase,  and,  thank  God,  selfish  as  the  masses  are  be- 
coming, there  are  thousands  of  them  throughout 
the  Christian  church. 

But  not  every  woman  can  go  thus  and  with  her 
own  hands  minister  to  the  needy ;  sometimes  her  own 
imperious  duties  prevent  and  sometimes  the  case  of 
need  is  too  far  distant.  Must  she  stand  by  helpless 
and  let  the  world's  need  go  on  unrelieved?  By  the 
grace  of  God,  no!  If  she  cannot  go  she  can  give 
such — and  in  such  quantities — as  she  has,  and  some 

76 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

other  women,  released  by  her  bounty,  can  jg^o 
and  do. 

Out  of  this  second  privilege  has  grown  the  whole 
benevolent  scheme  of  Christendom.  Generosity  in 
giving  has  made  possible  the  vast  propaganda  of 
foreign  missions,  which  is  not  only  winning  the 
race  to  Christ  but  is  rapidly  transforming  crude  and 
even  barbarous  nations.  Generous  giving  has 
planted  Bible  schools  and  churches  by  the  thou- 
sands on  our  distant  frontier,  whose  subtle  and 
persistent  influence  has  often  transformed  a  wild 
and  godless  mining  camp  into  a  Christian  village 
in  a  single  generation;  generous  giving  in  America 
has  taken  the  black  man  as  a  slave  and  developed 
him  into  a  useful,  self-respecting  citizen ;  it  has 
founded  and  maintained  academies  and  colleges  in 
which  sixty-five  per  cent  of  the  nation's  present 
leaders  were  educated ;  it  has  supplied  the  ''sinew^s 
of  war,"  enabling  reformers  to  fight  intemperance 
and  every  enemy  of  the  moral  welfare  of  our  people. 
No  man  can  picture  the  backward  and  unhappy  state 
in  which  our  own  nation  and  the  nations  of  Asia 
and  Africa  would  have  been  to-day  had  not  countless 
Christians  been  ''doers  of  the  word,  and  not  hearers 
only" ;  had  they  not  sacrificed  many  personal  com- 
forts that  the  ''other  sheep"  of  our  Father's  crea- 
tion might  hear  the  Shepherd's  voice. 

Twenty-five  years  ago  the  Bulu  people,  on  the 
west  coast  of  Africa,  were  naked,  ignorant,  repul- 
sive savages.     They  had  no  law  but  might.     The 

77 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

men  were  lazy,  quarrelsome  and  self-indulgent.  The 
poor  women  and  girls  were  bought  and  sold,  like 
cattle,  for  a  few  cents  each.  Polygamy  was  univer- 
sal. Fathers  sold  their  daughters  when  mere  babies 
to  be  the  wives  of  any  man  who  could  pay  a  fair 
price.  The  suffering  of  these  girls  endured  at  the 
hands  of  their  sensuous,  brutal  owners  is  indescrib- 
able. 

A  year  or  two  ago  Dr.  A.  W.  Halsey,  of  the 
Presbyterian  Board  of  Foreign  Missions,  visited  this 
territory.  He  found  the  people  with  language  and 
textbooks.  He  found  them  reading  the  Scriptures 
and  following,  as  best  they  can  understand  them, 
the  teachings  of  Jesus.  Among  the  Christians 
polygamy  has  been  banished  and  a  semblance  of 
domestic  happiness  is  creeping  into  their  homes. 
Hundreds  of  boys  and  girls  are  gathered  into 
schools.  Their  bodies  are  clothed,  their  minds  are 
being  filled  with  ennobling  thoughts.  They  are 
building  homes  and  cities  and  are  tilling  fields  which 
for  centuries  have  lain  idle.  This  transformation 
has  come  about  through  the  money  gifts  of  the 
Christians  of  America,  chiefly  from  the  Presby- 
terian Church. 

The  knowledge  that  the  money  you  are  contribut- 
ing to  the  cause  of  home  missions  is  helping  hun- 
dreds of  churches  to  maintain  services  in  outlying 
districts  which  otherwise  w^ould  be  entirely  without 
the  Word  of  God ;  that  thousands  of  children  are 
enabled,  by  similarly  generous  Christians,  to  study 

78 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

systematically  the  Word  of  God;  that  scores  of 
new  churches  are  organized  every  year;  that  the 
remnants  of  our  fast  disappearing  Indian  tribes  are 
being  taught  all  the  elements  of  Christian  truth  and 
Christian  civilization  by  your  generosity;  that  the 
immigrant,  landing  upon  our  shores,  is  met  by 
friendly  hands  and  introduced  to  the  best  life  by 
Christian  workers ;  that  you  are  helping  to  bring  the 
laboring  w^orld  and  the  church  into  closer  relation- 
ship; that  your  contributions  are  making  possible 
the  preparation  of  scientific  surveys  in  city  and 
country  which  shall  be  the  basis  of  future  benevolent 
work, — however  small  your  part  in  the  vast  enter- 
prise may  be, — this  knowledge  will  surely  react  upon 
your  own  life,  for  the  consciousness  of  duty  well 
done  enriches  the  soul  as  a  strengthening  cordial 
enlivens  the^body. 

Considering,  for  the  purpose  of  this  study,  the 
retroactive  benefits  of  Christlike  service  and  gen- 
erous giving,  both  for  the  relief  of  distress  and  for 
evangelizing  the  non-Christian  peoples  of  the 
world,  we  are  impressed  with  the  force  of  a  remark 
by  J.  Campbell  Whyte,  directing  head  of  the  great 
Laymen's  Missionary  Movement,  *'No  man  ever 
reaches  his  maximum  local  ef^ciency  until  he  enters 
into  his  inheritance  as  a  citizen  of  the  world" ;  also 
the  keen  observation  of  Jacob  Riis,  made  after  in- 
vestigating the  causes  of  a  revival  of  religion  in  his 
native  city  of  Copenhagen,  ''Every  dollar  con- 
tributed to   foreign  missions   releases  ten   dollars' 

79 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

worth  of  energy  for  dealing  with  the  tasks  at  our 
own  doors." 

''Give,  and  it  shall  be  given  unto  you ;  good  meas- 
ure, pressed  down,  shaken  together,  running  over, 
shall  they  give  into  your  bosom.  For  with  what 
measure  ye  mete  it  shall  be  measured  to  you  again." 
Christ  put  that  promise  into  the  heart  of  Christianity 
and  it  has  never  been  recalled.  If  ''the  gift  without 
the  giver  is  bare,"  a  gift  without  a  sure  reward  to 
the  giver  is  unknown.  If  men  are  careless  and  for- 
getful, God  is  not,  and  no  smallest  sacrifice  made 
for  his  poor  or  for  the  advancement  of  his  cause, 
is  ever  forgotten.  Truly,  "the  heart  grows  rich 
with  giving"  and  he  is  poor  indeed  who  hoards  all 
his  money  to  spend  it  upon  himself. 

A  notable  example  of  enrichment  by  giving  is  that 
of  D.  K.  Pearsons,  Chicago's  best  known  philan- 
thropist, who  died  in  April,  191 2.  Years  ago  Mr. 
Pearsons  determined  to  be  the  executor  and  distribu- 
tor of  his  own  estate.  Christian  colleges  appealed  to 
him  as  being  especially  worthy  of  assistance.  He 
gave  them  money  on  condition  of  their  securing  a 
similar,  or  in  some  cases  a  larger,  amount,  thus 
multiplying  many  fold  his  own  gift.  Mr.  Pearsons 
was  a  wise  steward.  In  enough  cases  to  provide  for 
his  old  age,  he  asked  for  a  small  annuity  during  his 
lifetime.  Having  provided  thus  for  all  normal 
wants  to  the  end  of  his  days,  he  reveled  in  the  joy 
of  giving  away  his  entire  fortune  of  something 
more  than  fourteen  million  dollars.    He  testified  that 

80 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

in  thus  providing  for  the  continuance  of  Christian 
education  at  the  sacrifice  of  his  own  fortune  he 
experienced  the  keenest  satisfaction  of  his  long  Hfe. 
His  friends  testified  that  his  heart  grew  richer  with 
each  passing  year  until  he  became  one  of  the  choice 
spirits  of  his  age. 

But  giving  service  is  even  more  enriching  than 
giving  cash.  Half  a  lifetime  ago  a  young  medical 
missionary  named  Joseph  Plum  Cochran  went  out 
to  Persia.  With  an  abandon  of  zeal  he  threw  him- 
self into  relieving  bodily  distress,  while  all  the  time 
he  strove  to  put  the  religion  of  Christ  into  the  hearts 
of  his  patients.  In  his  recently  published  book, 
''The  Foreign  Doctor,"  Robert  E.  Speer  says,  'Tn 
the  midst  of  turmoil  and  hate,  Persian  officials,  Mos- 
lem ecclesiastics,  Turks,  Nestorians,  Kurds  and 
Christians  shared  alike  in  his  ministry  of  love." 

But  while  the  Christian  doctor  was  giving  him- 
self to  Persia  he  was  all  unconsciously  enriching  his 
character  until  he  built  for  himself  an  imperishable 
memorial.  Continuing,  Dr.  Speer  says,  ''Decorated 
by  the  Shah  for  his  services  to  the  country  and 
exercising  a  powerful  influence  upon  the  political 
life  of  the  people,  it  was  yet  the  sterling  Christian 
character  of  the  man,  rather  than  his  skill  as  a 
physician  or  his  wise  council  in  political  affairs, 
which  won  for  him  the  respect  and  favor  of  people 
of  every  race,  creed  and  rank." 

Christianity  is  a  religion  of  sacrifice,  but  of  sacri- 
fice  which   brings    a   rich    reward.      From   out   its 

8i 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

gracious  lips  there  sounds  evermore  an  imperative 
command  with  but  one  alternative :  ''Serve  or  give 
that  others  may  be  released  to  serve ;  go  or  give  that 
others  more  favorably  conditioned  may  go." 

The  true  Christian  will  not  hesitate;  it  will  be 
simply  a  question  of  wise  stewardship  and  the  great 
Father,  seeing  the  sacrifice  and  evidence  of  love, 
will  send  his  reward  openly. 


82 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 


Chapter  Six 

PROGRESS  IN  CHRISTIAN  CULTURE: 
BY  SELF-CONTROL 

Self-control  has  long  been  recognized  as  the  chief 
factor  in  earthly  success,  the  conqueror  of  tempta- 
tion and  the  keynote  of  character.  Excess  in  eating 
and  in  drinking,  in  working  and  enjoying,  has 
thrown  the  blight  of  early  decay  and  death  over 
millions  of  the  most  promising  youths  and  maidens 
in  every  age.  "Standing  with  reluctant  feet  where 
the  brook  and  river  meet,"  they  have  ever  been  the 
objects  on  which  this  insidious  foe  has  concentrated 
his  efforts. 

It  is  the  moment  when  the  animal  in  man  is  most 
alive  and  when  wisdom  has  not  yet  taken  the  helm 
to  guide  the  life-ship  safely;  when  the  false  prom- 
ises of  the  self-indulgence  fiend  are  taken  for  truth; 
when,  to  vary  slightly  Emerson's  thought,  it  seems  as 
if  the  whole  world  had  been  created  to  give  pleasure 
to  one  man.  Added  to  these  natural  tempters,  one 
confesses  with  shame  and  confusion,  society  has  set 
up  others.  How  unpardonable  it  is  that  any  boy 
should  ever  be  allowed  to  feel  that  he  is  not  a  man 
until  he  begins  to  smoke !  that  he  is  setting  himself 

83 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

up  for  a  saint  if  he  will  not  drink  with  his  friends! 
W'hile  modern  society,  preening  itself  constantly 
upon  its  intelligence  and  culture,  has  little  with 
which  to  entertain  a  youth  if  he  holds  back  from 
the  variety  theater  or  will  not  play  cards  and  gam- 
ble a  little  on  the  result. 

Perhaps  it  is  not  strange  that  so  many  of  the 
darlings  of  our  homes  go  down  before  this  on- 
slaught. It  requires  a  heroism  as  great  as  that  of 
the  early  Christian  martyrs  for  able-bodied  young 
men  and  women,  tingling  with  life,  to  defy  the  edicts 
of  modern  social  customs,  subdue  temptations  from 
within  and  live  the  pure,  clean,  honorable  lives  their 
Maker  would  have  them  live. 

If  older  people  are  eager  to  help  them,  there  are 
two  special  things,  among  many,  which  they  can  do. 
First,  let  them  strive  to  break  down  these  false 
notions  selfish  and  self-indulgent  society  has  set  up. 
We  know  that  instead  of  making  him  appear  more 
manly,  smoking  his  first  cigar  and  taking  his  first 
drink  of  liquor  is  to  a  young  man  what  tearing  off 
his  epaulets  and  breaking  his  sword  is  to  an  army 
officer.  It  is  the  beginning  of  his  degradation.  Not 
only  this,  but  in  our  day  it  shuts  the  doors  of  many 
of  the  best  lines  of  labor  against  him. 

''Several  of  our  leading  banks  and  mercantile 
houses,"  said  an  experienced  New  York  merchant 
recently,  ''are  making  an  absolute  rule  of  engaging 
no  clerk  w^ho  smokes,  whether  pipe,  cigars  or  cigar- 
ettes.     We   find   the   young   fellow   who    takes   to 

84 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

smoking  takes  to  blundering  and  idleness  and  wast- 
ing his  time,  besides  very  often  going  to  questionable 
places  of  amusement  out  of  office  hours.  We  simply 
will  not  take  a  young  man  who  may  be  efficient  in 
every  other  way  but  w^ho  smokes.  If  he  won't  give 
up  tobacco,  w^e  give  him  up.  Young  men  and  youths 
have  no  need  of  opiates ;  a  busy,  overtaxed  merchant 
or  banker  may  perhaps  receive  benefit  from  a  cigar 
after  luncheon  or  at  the  end  of  the  day's  w'ork,  but 
young  fellows  have  no  right  to  drug  their  energies 
with  tobacco." 

''There  is  no  question  but  that  the  habits  of  a 
boy  count  with  his  employer,"  said  a  railroad  man 
of  prominence.  "A  w^atch  is  kept  on  the  boy,  and 
if  he  is  found  smoking  it  counts  against  him;  if  he 
keeps  late  hours  he  is  at  a  discount  compared  with 
the  boy  who  goes  to  bed  early;  if  he  drinks  or  gam- 
bles it  is  fatal  to  him.  A  boy  needs  every  ounce  of 
his  strength  in  order  to  succeed,  and  these  vicious 
habits  are  a  waste  of  power." 

Thus  has  the  great  w^orld  of  commerce  risen  up 
against  these  false  standards  social  custom  has  set 
up.  If  now  the  fathers  and  mothers  and  the  mature 
friends  of  these  young  men  would  take  an  equally 
strong  stand,  perhaps  after  a  while  the  truth  would 
appear  so  clearly  that  even  a  youth  would  be  forced 
to  know  that  he  is  tearing  off  his  own  epaulets  and 
breaking  his  own  sword  when  he  begins  these  hurt- 
ful habits  of  self-indulgence. 

The  second  way  mature  friends  may  infinitely  aid 

85 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

youths  of  to-day  is  by  helping  them  in  the  cultiva- 
tion of  self-control.  This  is  what  Benjamin  Frank- 
lin in  his  homely  philosophy  would  call  "putting 
meal  in  the  sack  to  make  it  stand  upright" ;  what  the 
business  world  calls  "stiffening  a  man's  backbone" ; 
what  we  may  call  "giving  substance  to  a  youth's 
character." 

In  boyhood,  during  the  spring  floods,  I  used  to 
watch  a  river  overflow  its  banks  and  spread  with 
damaging  tides  over  acres  of  fertile  farms.  So 
swift  was  its  current  that  all  weak  things  bent  and 
broke  under  its  onrush.  Only  the  strongest  trees 
stood  the  awful  test.  It  was  inspiring  to  see  the  oaks 
and  hickories  endure  the  strain.  When  a  great  wave 
would  roll  against  them  bending  them  over  for  a 
time  one  would  fear  they  were  gone,  but  in  a  mo- 
ment they  would  lift  their  heads,  shake  off  the 
encumbering  water  like  a  living  thing  and  stand  up 
again  as  straight  and  fearless  as  sentinels. 

Often  have  I  watched  floods  of  temptation  sweep 
over  a  city.  They  come,  as  a  rule,  in  the  autumn, 
when  the  days  shorten  and  the  evenings  grow  long; 
when  the  frivolous  and  self-indulgent  suggest  exces- 
sive pastimes  that  rob  youth  of  the  choicest  hours 
for  self -culture  and  fasten  habits  that  weaken  the 
body  and  stupefy  the  soul,  that  nurture  disobedience 
to  parents  and  neglect  of  the  church. 

Right-minded  youths  of  to-day  really  do  not  wish 
to  yield  to  these  temptations  and  they  prefer  to  con- 
serve their  energies,  to  obey  their  parents  and  be  true 

86 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

to  the  Saviour  they  have  confessed,  but  the  moment 
they  begin  to  practice  these  things  they  find  that 
society  wants  them  only  for  what  they  can  con- 
tribute to  it;  they  discover  that  they  are  being  left 
out  of  many  parties  and  pleasant  companies  where 
the  questionable  pastimes  they  oppose  are  freely 
indulged.  Their  pride  is  touched  and  they  suddenly 
feel  very  lonely !  Ah !  do  we  not  know  that  they 
are  in  the  flood  tide  of  temptation?  Will  they  en- 
dure like  my  oaks  and  hickories  of  long  ago,  or  will 
they  yield  and  be  swept  away  like  the  tall  weeds 
of  the  meadow?  This  hour  of  all  others  they  need 
our  help.  If  they  win  now  the  rest  is  ensy;  if  they 
yield,  then  a  lower  level  for  the  whole  long  life 
before  them ! 

Happy  those  youths  who  have  gathered  strength 
in  the  time  of  peace ;  who  have  been  surrounded  by 
manly  and  womanly  examples;  who  have  heard  it 
evermore  asserted  that  "d.  good  name  is  rather  to 
be  chosen  than  great  riches" ;  that  though  it  costs  the 
most  in  labor  and  self-denial,  character  is  worth  a 
thousand  times  more  than  flashy  accomplishment; 
that  to  arouse  worthy  ambition  toward  emulation 
has  greater  reward  in  the  end  than  the  ability  to 
arouse  laughter  for  a  moment;  that  to  be  master  of 
yourself  makes  you  master  of  every  situation  in 
which  you  will  ever  find  yourself. 

Recognizing  the  necessity  of  self-control  in  the 
face  of  danger,  it  is  said  Japan  submits  her  young 
cadets  to  serious  and  nenx-trying  tests.     Among 

87 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

these  is  the  mounting  of  a  loaded  cannon  on  a  re- 
volving frame  in  the  center  of  the  mess  table.  A 
long  fuse  is  lighted  and  it  is  known  that  some  time 
during  the  meal  that  cannon,  whose  mouth  is  on  a 
level  w^ith  the  young  officers'  heads,  will  be  dis- 
charged. With  its  load  of  death  waiting  only  the 
moment  of  contact  with  the  fire  in  the  fast-burning 
fuse,  the  cannon  points  in  turn  to  each  man's  head 
a  hundred  times  during  the  evening.  Not  until  they 
can  stand  this  test  unflinchingly  are  men  counted 
ready  for  service. 

With  the  same  end  in  view,  let  us  reverse  the 
method,  surrounding  our  youths  not  with  dangerous 
temptations  but  with  such  examples  of  righteous- 
ness and  self-control  as  shall  strengthen  them  for 
all  time,  that  they  "may  be  able  to  withstand  in  the 
evil  day,  and,  having  done  all,  to  stand." 

Self-control  must  be  cultivated  in  youth.  Like 
many  growing  things,  it  flourishes  and  brings  forth 
abundant  harvests  if  planted  early.  If  neglected 
until  the  midsummer  of  life  it  languishes  and  pro- 
vides no  strength.  One  readily  confesses  that  dif- 
ference in  temperment  makes  the  task  hard  or  easy, 
yet  all  experience  proves  that  self-control  may  be 
cultivated  successfully  by  every  life  that  determines 
to  do  it. 

Surely  Charles  Kingsley  was  right  when  he  said 
that  "any  man  or  woman  in  any  age,  under  any 
circumstances,  who  will,  can  live  the  heroic  life  and 
exercise  heroic  influence."     So  I  believe  any  man  or 

88 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

woman  who  will    tan  cultivate  self-control  until  it 
becomes  a  dominating  and  helpful  habit. 

The  formation  of  any  habit  by  which  we  do 
things  unconsciously  requires  a  longer  or  a  shorter 
period  of  conscious  effort.  That  young  woman  who 
plays  the  piano  so  charmingly  without  seeming  to 
even  look  at  the  keys — how  many  days  and  years 
of  hard,  mind-directed  practice  were  put  into  her 
accomplishment?  or  that  young  man  who  so  easily 
and  swiftly  runs  the  linotype  machine  in  a  down- 
town printing  office — do  you  think  for  a  moment 
that  his  present  proficiency  required  no  weeks  and 
months  when  mind  and  will  were  centered  on  every 
movement  of  the  fingers  while  they  gathered  their 
skill? 

Good  habits  are  not  indigenous  to  the  average 
youth.  If  he  would  have  them  they  must  be  culti- 
vated, arid  the  sooner  he  becomes  master  of  himself 
the  sooner  will  he  be  able  to  direct  his  efforts  in  the 
gathering  of  every  coveted  virtue. 

A  few  years  ago  a  young  man  called  at  my  home 
and  asked  to  see  me  on  very  urgent  business.  I  was 
amazed  at  the  nature  of  his  errand :  he  asked  for 
money  that  he  might  go  to  an  institution  and  be 
cured  of  the  cigarette  habit.  I  do  not  remember 
ever  taking  part  in  a  more  pathetic  conversation. 
His  imagination  was  vivid  and  his  experiences  had 
evidently  been  extensive. 

"I  am  willing  to  provide  the  necessary  funds," 
I  said    at  length,  ''but  I  will  gladly  provide  twice 

89 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

as  much  to  start  you  in  some  legitimate  work  if  you 
will  rise  up  in  the  strength  of  your  own  manhood 
and  stop  this  thing  that  is  so  cursing  your  life." 

'T  stop  it?"  he  cried.  'T  can  no  more  stop  smok- 
ing than  I  can  stop  breathing — I  tell  you  the  Devil 
has  got  me  down.  I  try  to  stop,  I  throw  away  all 
my  supplies,  I  resolve  that  never  again  shall  the 
damnable  stuff  enter  my  nostrils,  and  before  an  hour 
is  gone  I  will  steal  if  necessary  to  get  a  new  supply. 
I  haven't  any  mind  and  I  haven't  any  will.  The 
brute  in  me  is  in  control  and  I  will  have  to  have  help 
from  the  outside." 

Full  well  do  I  know  that  many  a  youth  in  every 
city  is  forming  habits  that  will  prove  as  great  a 
curse  as  the  cigarette  habit  was  to  this  young  man, 
habits  that  will  weaken  and  stultify  every  faculty 
and  send  him  halting  and  infirm  to  maturity  and 
old  age.  In  some  it  is  the  habit  of  giving  full  vent 
to  envy  and  anger  and  the  letting  fly  of  cruel  and 
heart-stinging  words.  In  others  it  is  the  satisfying 
of  fleshy  appetites  that  are  fast  becoming  abnormal 
and  will  soon  begin  to  weaken  both  body  and  mind. 
Still  others,  to  one  or  both  of  these  are  adding 
habits  of  laziness  and  disobedience  to  parents  that 
are  fitting  them  not  for  society  but  for  the  reforma- 
tory or  perhaps  the  penitentiary. 

If  only  it  were  possible  to  force  upon  the  attention 
of  such  young  people  the  example  of  the  Great 
Teacher  in  his  boyhood.  After  that  memorable 
scene  in  the  temple  in  Jerusalem,  when  the  attention 

90 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

of  the  whole  nation  had  been  drawn  to  him,  when 
he  might  have  become  conceited  and  refused  to  sub- 
mit to  parental  restraint,  he  still  returned  to 
Nazareth  and  was  subject  unto  his  parents,  grow- 
ing in  wisdom  while  he  increased  in  stature  and  in 
favor  with  God  and  man. 

We  do  not  know  the  process  of  his  cultivation. 
We  may  only  infer  it  from  the  ripened  fruits ;  for 
when  Jesus  emerged  from  the  obscurity  that  had 
surrounded  his  youth  he  had  such  command  of 
every  faculty  and  such  perfect  control  of  himself 
that  kings  were  amazed  and  rulers  stood  abashed 
before  him.  "Behold,  the  man!"  cried  one  who 
found  no  fault  in  him.  And  w^e  cry,  ''Behold  him, 
indeed !  A  man  without  bad  habits,  a  man  weak- 
ened by  no  excesses,  a  man  in  perfect  control  of 
himself;  sur-ely  such  a  man  may  well  be  the  exam- 
ple for  all  men  who  shall  come  after." 

O  that  young  men  and  young  women  could 
know  what  those  know  who  have  reached  matu- 
rity. How  clean  they  would  keep  their  lives,  how 
free  from  hurtful  habits,  how  eagerly  they  would 
strive  to  remain  in  perfect  control  of  every  faculty! 
Are  you  not  moved  when  you  see  that  only  those 
who  do  these  things  have  earthly  happiness,  only 
these  lead  normal  lives,  only  these  really  help  the 
world  ? 

When  a  youth  has  mastered  arithmetic  all  higher 
mathematics  come  easy.  Let  him  neglect  this  pre- 
liminary work  and  algebra,   geometry,  trigonome- 

91 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

try  and  calculus  prove  a  labyrinth  through  which 
he  must  be  led  as  one  blind  and  senseless.  Let  a 
youth  approach  maturity, — the  work  period  of  his 
life, — with  no  bad  habits  and  complete  master  of 
himself,  the  world  readily  yields  him  fortune  and  a 
place. 

Such  a  man  or  woman  can  say  with  the  poet : 

It  matters  not  how  straight  the  gate, 

How  charged  with  punishments  the  scroll, 

I  am  the  master  of  my  fate, 
I   am  the  captain  of  my  soul. 

He  is  like  a  Solomon  assuming  rule  of  the  king- 
dom he  has  inherited;  no  man  can  now  unfit  him 
for  it,  no  man  can  take  it  away;  at  least  no  man 
but  himself. 

Over  against  this  glowing  possibility  how  many 
men  and  women  do  we  see  reach  maturity  with  the 
blight  of  intemperence  thus  early  marring  their 
lives !  Already  many  are  weakened  by  needless  dis- 
ease, many  minds  are  muddled  now  from  the  mass 
of  unwholesome  reading  and  sight-seeing  they  have 
allowed  themselves,  many  a  once  pure  soul  is 
smirched  by  evil-thinking  that  has  all  too  often 
led  to  evil-acting,  while  a  number  so  great  as  to 
appall  the  bravest  heart  reach  manhood  and 
w^omanhood  already  writhing  in  the  meshes  of  that 
quintette  of  vices  called  dancing  and  card-playing 
and  gambling  and  smoking  and  drinking,  so  much 
alike   in   their   effects    and   tendencies    that   one   is 

92 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

forced  to  believe  they  are  all  children  of  the  same 
hideous  mother. 

Perhaps  the  last  of  these  is  the  worst,  although, 
so  far  as  my  own  comfort  is  concerned,  when  car- 
ried to  excess,  as  it  so  often  is,  I  had  as  lief  talk 
to  a  man  befouled  by  whisky  as  to  one  befouled 
by  tobacco,  and  I  cannot  but  pity  the  pure,  clean 
women  who  are  forced  to  endure  constant  associa- 
tion with  men  who  carry  about  evermore  all  the 
evil  smells  of  a  smokehouse. 

But  the  blight  of  liquor  is  twofold — it  weak- 
ens and  brutalizes  the  body  and  it  snuffs  out 
the  soul.  The  world  says  plainly,  "No  man  weak- 
ened and  stultified  by  liquor  shall  have  a  place  in 
the  larger  activities  of  society,"  and  the  Bible  just 
as  plainly  declares  ''no  drunkard  shall  inherit  the 
kingdom  of, heaven."  Have  you  forgotten,  men, 
the  eternal  consequences  of  the  sin  with  which 
you  are  trifling?  which,  by  your  vote  sustaining  the 
saloon,  you  are  making  it  so  hard  for  weaker  men 
to  avoid? 

The  story  of  John  B.  Gough  is  typical  and  not 
so  unusual  as  to  lack  value  as  a  warning  example. 
He  arrived  in  America  from  his  English  home  as 
promising  a  young  man  as  his  age  produced.  He 
was  gifted  with  voice  and  presence  and  a  mar- 
velous power  to  sway  and  influence  men. 

In  the  early  years  of  his  life  in  America  he  was 
tempted  by  companions  to  liquor  and  excess  and 
at  last  reached  manhood  totally  unfitted  to  assume 

93 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

its  duties.  In  a  single  paragraph  of  his  auto- 
biography he  tells  the  story  of  his  start  in  sin. 
After  the  death  of  his  mother  he  became  separated 
from  an  only  sister  and  soon  found  himself  alone 
and  penniless  in  New  York,  and  this  is  the  story 
of  his  fate: 

I  boarded  in  Grand  Street  at  the  time  and  soon  after  laid 
the  foundation  of  many  of  my  future  sorrows.  I  possessed 
a  tolerably  good  voice  and  sang  pretty  well,  having  also  the 
faculty  of  imitation  rather  strongly  developed  and  being  well 
stocked  with  amusing  stories,  I  was  introduced  into  the  society 
of  thoughtless  and  dissipated  young  men,  to  whom  my  talents 
made  me  welcome.  These  companions  were  what  is  termed 
respectable,  but  they  drank.  I  now  began  to  attend  the 
theaters  frequently  and  felt  ambitious  of  strutting  my  hour 
upon  the  stage.  By  slow  but  sure  degrees  I  forgot  the  lessons 
of  wisdom  which  my  mother  had  taught  me,  lost  all  relish  for 
the  great  truths  of  religion,  neglected  my  devotions  and  con- 
sidered an  actor's  situation  to  be  the  ne  plus  ultra  of  greatness. 

From  this  start  John  B.  Cough's  fall  was  swift 
and  absolute.  He  drifted  from  place  to  place, 
a  shiftless,  worthless  drunkard.  In  an  hour  of 
prosperity  a  beautiful  young  girl  had  married  him, 
but  she  soon  died  in  childbirth  from  neglect  and 
a  broken  heart.  He  tried  to  reform  but,  follow- 
ing their  usual  fiendish  practices,  the  saloon-keepers 
would  seek  him  out  and  tempt  him  to  drink  again. 
Excess  was  followed  by  delerium  tremens  and  the 
poor  wretch  was  face  to  face  with  death,  when, 
as  he  staggered  along  the  street  one  day,  a  man 
tapped  him  on  the  shoulder. 

94 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

I  want  to  give  the  turning  point  in  the  Hfe  of 
John  B.  Gough  in  his  own  language,  with  the  hope 
in  my  heart  that  the  example  of  the  individual 
worker  who  reached  him  may  be  full  of  sugges- 
tion for  everyone  who  reads  his  story  touching 
his  own  future  attitude  toward  drinking  men. 

The  month  of  October  had  nearly  drawn  to  a  close,  and 
on  Its  last  Sunday  evening  I  wandered  out  into  the  streets 
pondering,  as  well  as  I  was  able  to  do,  for  I  was  somewhat 
intoxicated,  on  my  lone  and  friendless  condition.  My  frame 
was  much  weakened  by  habitual  indulgence  in  intoxicating 
liquors  and  little  fitted  to  bear  the  cold  of  winter  which  had 
already  begun  to  come  on.  But  I  had  no  means  of  protecting 
myself  against  the  bitter  blast,  and  as  I  anticipated  my  coming 
misery  I  staggered  along,  homeless,  aimless  and  all  but 
hopeless. 

Some  one  tapped  me  on  the  shoulder.  An  unusual  thing 
that  to  occur  to  me,  for  no  one  now  cared  to  come  in  contact 
with  the  wretched,  shabby-looking  drunkard.  I  was  a  dis- 
grace, "a  living,  walking  disgrace."  I  could  scarcely  believe 
my  senses  when  I  turned  and  met  a  kind  look ;  the  thing  was 
so  unusual  and  so  entirely  unexpected  that  I  questioned  the 
reality  of  It,  but  so  it  was.  It  was  the  first  touch  of  kindness 
which  I  had  known  for  months,  and  simple  and  trifling  as 
the  circumstance  may  appear  to  many,  it  went  right  to  my 
heart,  and  like  the  wing  of  an  angel,  troubled  the  waters  in 
that  stagnant  pool  of  affection  and  made  them  once  more 
reflect  a  little  of  the  light  of  human  love.  The  person  who 
touched  my  shoulder  was  an  entire  stranger.  I  looked  at  him 
wondering  what  his  business  was  with  me.  Regarding  me 
very  earnestly  and  apparently  with  much  interest,  he  said: 

"Mr.  Gough,  I  believe." 

"That  Is  my  name,"  I  replied  and  was  passing  on. 

"You  have  been   drinking  to-day,"   said   the   stranger  in  a 

95 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

kind  voice  which  arrested  my  attention  and  quite  dispelled 
any  anger  at  what  I  might  otherwise  have  considered  inter- 
ference in  my  affairs. 

''Yes,  sir,"  I  replied,  "I  have." 

"Why  do  you  not  sign  the  pledge?"  was  the  next  query. 

I  considered  for  a  minute  or  two  and  then  informed  the 
strange  friend  who  had  so  unexpectedly  interested  himself  in 
my  behalf  that  I  had  no  hope  of  ever  again  becoming  a 
sober  man;  that  I  was  without  a  single  friend  in  the  world 
who  cared  for  me  or  what  became  of  me;  that  I  fully  ex- 
pected to  die  very  soon,  I  cared  not  how  soon,  or  whether 
I  died  drunk  or  sober;  and  in  fact,  that  I  was  in  a  condition 
of  utter   recklessness. 

The  stranger  regarded  me  with  a  benevolent  look,  took 
me  by  the  arm  and  asked  me  how  I  should  like  to  be  as  I 
once  was,  respectable  and  esteemed,  well  clad  and  sitting,  as 
I  used  to,  in  a  place  of  worship,  enabled  to  meet  my  friends 
as  in  old  times  and  receive  from  them  the  pleasant  nod  of 
recognition  as  formerly — in  fact,  become  a  useful  member 
of   society. 

"Oh,"  I  replied,  "I  should  like  all  those  things  first  rate, 
but  I  have  no  expectation  that  such  a  thing  will  ever  happen. 
Such  a  change  cannot  be  possible." 

"Only  sign  our  pledge,"  remarked  my  friend,  "and  I  will 
warrant  that  it  shall  be  so ;  sign  it  and  I  will  introduce  you 
myself  to  good  friends,  who  will  feel  an  interest  in  your 
welfare  and  take  pleasure  in  helping  you  to  keep  your  good 
resolutions.  Only,  Mr.  Gough,  sign  the  pledge  and  all  will 
be  as  I  have  said  and  more,  too." 

Oh,  how  pleasantly  fell  those  words  of  kindness  on  my 
crushed  and  bruised  heart !  I  had  long  been  a  stranger  to 
feelings  such  as  now  awoke  in  my  bosom.  A  chord  had  been 
touched  which  vibrated  to  the  tones  of  love.  Hope  once 
more  dawned  and  I  began  to  think,  strange  as  it  appeared, 
that  such  things  as  my  friend  promised  me  might  come  to 
pass.     On  the  instant  I  resolved  to  try  at  least. 

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PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN   CULTURE 

The  rest  of  the  glorious  history  of  this  remark- 
able man,  who  probably  led  more  people  to  sign 
the  temperance  pledge  than  any  other  man  who 
ever  lived,  is  well  known.  It  did  not  go  easily 
with  him  for  years.  Several  times  he  fell  and 
once  flagrantly  broke  the  pledge,  but  he  signed  it 
again  and  rose  to  his  work  stronger  than  before. 
He  gained  control  of  himself  at  last,  not  only  be- 
coming a  Christian  himself  but  leading  thousands 
to  like  resolution  and  service. 

One  word  more  of  warning  which  he  spoke  in  his 
maturity  I  would  give.  It  will  make  its  own 
pathetic  appeal.     Said  he  : 

A  man  can  never  recover  from  the  effects  of  such  a  severe 
experience,  morally  or  physically.  Lessons  learned  in  such  a 
school  are  not  forgotten,  impressions  made  in  such  a  furnace 
of  sin  are  permanent ;  the  nature  so  w^arped  in  such  crooked 
ways  must  retain  in  some  degree  the  shape;  lodgments  are 
made  by  such  horrible  contacts  and  associations  that  nothing 
but  the  mighty  spirit  of  God  can  eradicate. 

Young  man,  I  say  to  you,  look  back  at  the  fire  v^here  I  lay 
scorching, — at  the  bed  of  torture  where  the  iron  entered  my 
soul ;  yes,  look  back  at  the  past,  standing,  as  I  trust  I  do, 
under  the  arch  of  the  bow,  one  base  of  which  rests  on  the 
dark  days  and  the  other  I  hope  on  the  sunny  slopes  of 
paradise, — I  say  to  you,  in  view  of  the  awful  evil  spreading 
around  you,  "Beware,  tamper  not  with  the  accursed  thing. — 
and  may  God  forbid  that  you  should  ever  suffer  as  I  have 
suffered,  or  be  called  to  fight  such  a  battle  as  I  have  fought 
for    body    and    soul." 

In  one  of  his  choicest  comedies   (As  You  Like 
97 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

It)    Shakspere    presents    a    strong   old    man    who, 
in  explanation  of  his  power,  is  led  to  say: 

For  in  my  youth  I  never  did  apply 
Hot  and  rebellious  liquors  to  my  blood, 
Nor  did  not,  with  unbashful  forhead,  woo, 
The   means   of   weakness   and   debility, 
Therefore  my  age  is  as  a  lusty  winter, 
Frosty,  but  kindly. 

In  these  words  the  great  poet  has  given  us  the 
only  key  to  a  strong  and  happy  old  age.  If  we 
would,  as  Job's  friend  promised  him,  ''come  to  thy 
grave  in  a  full  age,  like  as  a  shock  of  grain 
Cometh  in  its  season,"  bearing  our  best  and  fully 
ripened  fruit  in  the  last  years  of  our  life,  then 
must  we  guard  well  the  years  called  youth  and 
maturity.  We  must  gain  that  control  of  the  body 
that  will  make  it  the  servant  and  not  the  master 
of  the  soul;  we  must  submit  to  no  temptation,  how- 
ever promising,  that  may  finally  put  the  ball  and 
chain  of  destructive  habit  upon  our  life.  God 
grant  that  no  soul  who  reads  this  page  will  ever 
be  obliged  to  say  as  Macbeth  was,  when  life's  sun 
is  near  its  setting : 

My  way  of  life 
Is   fallen  into  the  sear,  the  yellow  leaf ; 
And  that  which  should  accompany  old  age, 
As  honor,  love,  obedience,  troops  of  friends, 
I  must  not  look  to  have;  but  in  their  stead. 
Curses,  not  loud  but  deep,  mouth-honor,  breath, 
Which  the  poor  heart  would  feign  deny,  but  dare  not. 

98 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

Over  against  this  may  we  all  so  live,  so  control 
the  life  and  so  serve  God  and  man  that  when  our 
summons  comes  to  join  the  innumerable  caravan 
we  may  without  irreverence  or  falsehood  take  the 
words  of  the  great  apostle  as  our  own  and  say : 

I  have  fought  the  good  fight,  I  have  finished  the  course,  I 
have  kept  the  faith:  henceforth  there  is  laid  up  for  me  the 
crown  of  righteousness,  which  the  Lord,  the  righteous  judge, 
shall  give  to  me  at  that  day ;  and  not  to  me  only,  but  also  to  all 
them  that  have  loved  his  appearing. 


99 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 


Chapter   Seven 

PROGRESS  IN  CHRISTIAN  CULTURE: 
BY  FORGETTING 

In  the  intellectual  world  every  man  is  a  king. 
As  one  in  authority  his  soul  says  to  one  servant, 
go !  and  he  goeth ;  to  another,  come !  and  he  cometh. 
If  his  servants  are  not  other  human  beings  they 
are  equally  capable  of  ministering  to  the  soul's 
necessities  and  of  contributing  to  its  happiness.  I 
speak  of  the  servants  called  Conception,  Thought, 
Memory.  At  the  direction  of  the  soul  these  ser- 
vants hurry  forth  everywhither  and  bring  in  from 
their  journeyings  things  new  and  old  for  the  enrich- 
ment of  their  royal  master. 

Not  least  among  these  helpers  is  the  servant 
called  memory.  Without  her  man  would  remain  a 
helpless  infant.  She  keeps  an  unfailing  record  c'" 
the  past.  The  lessons  of  yesterday  would  be  value- 
less to  the  life  did  not  memory  treasure  them  up 
in  her  stout  granary  and  hold  them  ready  for  de- 
livery on  the  slightest  intimation  of  her  king. 
Learning  would  be  impossible  without  the  constar' 
aid  of  this  faithful  agent.  Likewise  choice  would 
have  to  be  given  up,  for  without  memory  there  could 

100 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

be  no  comparison.  Man's  happiness  would  be 
largely  curtailed  if  memory  refused  to  bring  to  the 
mind  the  experiences  and  delights  of  the  past 

But  valuable  as  is  this  servant  of  the  soul,  she 
sometimes  serves  man  all  too  well.  The  moment 
memory,  by  her  faithful  treasuring  up  of  past  sor- 
rows, causes  her  master  to  become  downhearted 
and  depressed;  the  moment  she  causes  him  to  stop 
all  effort,  and  rely  upon  past  achievements  for  pres- 
ent glory;  the  moment,  by  a  detailed  review  of  the 
words  and  actions  of  others  which  one  has  looked 
upon  as  an  injury,  she  causes  the  heart  to  refuse 
forgiveness, — that  moment  does  memory  cease  to 
be  a  help  and  becomes  a  hinderance  to  man's  pro- 
gress. ''Forgiveness,"  said  the  ancients,  "is  better 
than  revenge." 

If  it  is  ,well  to  cultivate  the  power  of  memory 
it  is  also  well  to  bring  to  perfection  the  power  of 
forgetting.  When  Simonides  offered  to  teach 
Themistocles  the  art  of  memory  he  answered, 
''Oh,  rather  teach  me  the  art  of  forgetting:  for  I 
often  remember  what  I  would  not  and  cannot  forget 
what  I  would." 

Coleridge  held  that  knowledge  is  indestructible, 
that  once  entering  the  mind  it  would  ever  remain 
there;  and  from  this  he  derived  a  strong  argument 
for  future  retribution.  Ancient  thinkers  conceived 
of  the  mind  as  a  kind  of  plaque  over  the  face  of 
which  was  spread  a  thin  coating  of  soft  wax.  By 
the  use  of  a  stylus  this  wax  was  written  over  with 

lOI 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

some  fact  which  it  was  desired  should  be  held  in 
remembrance,  and  then  all  was  allowed  to  harden, 
thus  making  a  practically  indestructible  record  of 
the  fact  inscribed.  In  some  such  way,  said  they, 
the  mind  is  impressed  with  whatsoever  comes  be- 
fore it  and  the  record  becomes  permanent. 

Leaving  aside  the  possibility  of  the  truth  of  such 
an  hypothesis,  we  are  aware  that,  whether  or  not 
it  is  possible  to  obliterate  absolutely  from  the  mind 
those  things  which  have  come  before  it,  w^e  can  at 
least  so  put  from  us  hurtful  memories  that  they 
shall  not  hinder  our  advancement ;  and  this  becomes 
the  imperative  duty  of  every  man  and  woman  who 
would  advance  in  Christian  culture. 

By  many  who  have  tried  it,  it  has  been  found 
most  helpful  to  forget  experiences  that  tend  to 
hinder  present  progress  in  differing  degrees.  Some 
are  to  be  as  nearly  obliterated  from  the  mind  as 
possible,  others  are  to  be  so  forgotten  that  their 
remembrance  will  only  impel  the  mind  to  avoid 
them,  while  still  others  are  to  be  so  forgotten  that 
they  shall  not  be  made  a  ground  for  present  in- 
activity. 

In  the  first  class; — those  experiences  of  the 
past  which  are  to  be  put  entirely  from  one  and 
never  for  a  moment  entertained  when  by  any  means 
they  are  brought  before  the  mind, — we  must  place 
first,  all  injuries,  real  or  supposed,  that  may  have 
been  done  us  by  others.  There  is  perhaps  no  one 
thing  that  so  puts  an  end  to  all  growth  of  the  soul 

102 


PROGRESS   IN   CHRISTIAN   CULTURE 

as  the  cherishing  of  these  memories.  The  splendid 
maple  tree  that  has  for  so  many  years  befriended 
a  household  with  shelter  and  shade  one  day  re- 
ceives a  great  gash  in  its  side  from  a  member  of  the 
very  household  it  has  so  long  benefited.  As  if 
shelter  and  shade  were  not  enough,  it  must  now 
give  of  its  very  life's  blood  that  the  taste  of  a 
thoughtless  boy  for  maple  syrup  may  be  favored. 
Does  the  tree  now,  because  of  this  real  injury  from 
one  it  has  ever  benefited,  refuse  longer  to  give  shade 
and  shelter  from  the  storm?  Does  it  treasure  the 
memory  of  that  old  wound,  shriveling  up  its  leaves 
and  refusing  the  next  spring  to  bring  forth  foliage? 
Not  at  all.  Such  actions  are  never  seen  in  nature. 
It  is  only  among  men  and  women,  who  have  been  so 
highly  favored  of  God,  who  are  twice  as  far  above 
the  tree  as.  the  tree  is  above  the  stone,  that  such 
actions  are  found.  No  matter  if  God  has  forgiven 
them  more  a  thousand  times  than  any  grievance  they 
can  possibly  have  against  a  neighbor,  they  will  still 
go  on  grieving  him  and  hindering  the  advance  of 
themselves  and  the  community  while  they  refuse 
to  forget  what  in  all  probability  is  nothing  at  all 
if  fully  known,  or  at  most,  insignificant  when  the 
growth  of  the  soul  is  being  considered. 

As  the  barbarous  custom  of  the  Flathead  In- 
dians of  binding  a  board  upon  the  head  of  their 
infants  hindered  the  proper  development  of  that 
member  and  the  advance  of  intellectual  life,  so  the 
binding  upon  the  soul,  by  the  power  of  memory, 

103 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

of  so-called  injuries  from  others,  hinders  the  growth 
and  full  development  of  what  is  the  very  center 
of  man's  being.  Forget  the  things  which  are 
behind  and  reach  forward  to  the  things  w^hich  are 
before.  Will  you  stay  behind  and  gather  weeds 
when  by  going  forward  you  may  gather  roses? 
Are  you  willing  to  remain  where  you  are,  cherish- 
ish  all  your  old  memories,  eating  husks  and  wasting 
to  a  skeleton,  or  will  you  cast  those  old  concerns 
from  you,  advance  to  your  proper  place  in  the 
w^orld,  grow  to  be  a  broad,  generous,  robust  Chris- 
tian and  member  of  society,  and  in  the  kingdom 
of  God  partake  of  a  banquet  which  the  Father  will 
gladly  prepare? 

Second.  One  who  would  progress  must  put  away 
from  the  mind  all  memories  of  self  when  those 
memories  urge  us  to  forsake  every  other  interest 
that  self  may  be  advanced.  A  man  had  better  be 
a  snail  than  be  utterly  selfish  if  he  wishes  to  ad- 
vance. The  selfish  man  is  not  only  chained  to  a 
thousand' unseen  anchors  behind  but  he  is  pushed 
back  by  a  solid  mountain  of  opposition  on  the  part 
of  those  in  front  to  whom  he  is  refusing  to  do  his 
duty.  The  man  who  is  able  to  forget  himself  and 
work  for  others  realizes  at  last  that  during  this 
period  of  self -suspension  he  has  been  rushed  for- 
ward by  those  he  has  endeavored  to  serve  to  a  point 
far  beyond  his  thought  or  expectation.  Forgetting 
themselves  at  El  Caney  during  the  Cuban  War, 
Theodore  Roosevelt  and  his  Rough  Riders  made 

104 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

their  names  immortal  while  trying  to  serve  their 
country.  Forgetting  themselves,  eight  men  who 
had  never  been  heard  of  before  outside  of  their 
immediate  circle  of  friends  floated  on  the  old  col- 
lier Merrimac  to  a  position  in  the  estimation  of 
the  world  they  could  never  by  any  means  have 
attained  were  they  trying  to  serve  themselves. 

A  certain  man  of  old,  about  to  go  from  his  home 
on  a  long  journey,  called  one  of  his  servants  to  him 
and  gave  him  two  talents  without  any  instructions 
as  to  what  he  should  do  with  the  money.  He  might 
naturally  have  thought  at  once  of  himself.  'This 
money  will  buy  me  many  pleasures.  It  is  hardly 
large  enough  to  put  into  any  speculations,  besides 
my  lord  may  have  meant  for  me  to  use  it  in  push- 
ing myself  forward,  in  adding  to  my  own  happi- 
ness." But  instead  of  this  he  forgot  about  himself 
entirely.  He  took  these  two  talents,  small  as  the 
amount  was,  and  put  them  to  the  exchangers.  Little 
by  little  they  grew  until,  w^hen  the  lord  of  that  ser- 
vant finally  did  come  back,  the  money  had  been 
doubled.  The  master  at  once  recognized  his  ser- 
vant's faithfulness.  He  realized  that  he  had  been 
guarding  his  master's  interests  instead  of  his  own, 
and  the  words  came  gladly,  ''Thou  hast  been  faith- 
ful to  thy  trust,  faithful  in  looking  after  the  wel- 
fare of  others,  faithful  over  a  few  things ;  I  will 
make  thee  ruler  over  many  things.  Enter  thou  into 
the  joy  of  thy  lord." 

"Of  all  that  have  tried  the  selfish  experiment," 
105 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

says  Dr.  Johnson,  "let  one  come  forth  and  say  he 
has  succeeded.  He  that  has  made  gold  his  idol, 
has  it  satisfied  him  ?  He  that  has  toiled  in  the  fields 
of  ambition,  has  he  been  repaid?  He  that  has  ran- 
sacked every  theater  of  sensual  enjoyment,  is  he 
content?  Can  any  answer  in  the  affirmative?  Not 
one!  And  when  his  conscience  shall  ask  him,  and 
ask  him  it  will,  'Where  are  the  hungry  to  whom  you 
gave  meat,  the  thirsty  to  whom  you  gave  drink,  the 
stranger  whom  you  sheltered,  the  sick  whom  ye 
ministered  unto,'  how  will  he  feel  when  he  must 
answer,  '1  have  done  none  of  those  things — I 
thought  only  of  myself.'?" 

As  the  heart  grows  more  public-spirited  it  grows 
in  grace.  As  a  man  forgets  self  and  thinks  of 
serving  others  will  his  whole  nature  expand  and 
himself  become  beloved  and  honored  by  all  who 
know  him. 

A  second  class  of  memories  which  must  be  for- 
gotten if  we  would  progress  are  memories  of  our 
sufferings  and  sorrows.  A  modern  French  author 
says: 

Feeble  natures  live  in  griefs  instead  of  changing  them  into 
the  apothegms  of  experience.  They  saturate  themselves 
with  them  and  use  them  to  retrace  their  steps  daily  into  past 
misfortunes.  To  forget  is  the  grand  secret  of  strong  and 
creative  natures — to  forget  as  nature  does,  who  never  regards 
herself  as  passe,  but  recommences  every  hour  the  mysteries 
of  her  indefatigable  births. 

But  these  memories  are  not  to  be  forgotten  as 
1 06 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

the  first  class — utterly  cast  out  from  the  life — but 
rather  forgotten  as  sources  of  depression  and  sad- 
ness. The  soul  bound  down  by  weight  of  woe  can 
do  little  in  winning  new  victories.  It  is  as  though 
one  would  swim  to  a  distant  shore  with  a  mill- 
stone about  his  neck.  Sorrow  and  suffering  are 
sent  to  us  not  to  hinder  us  but  to  help  us  if  we  but 
rightly  comprehend  them.  They  are  as  balloons  to 
lift  us  upward,  not  millstones  to  drag  us  down. 

Says  Mrs.  Campbell,  that  gracious  soul  in  ''Step- 
ping Heavenward,"  who  had  lost  her  husband  and 
all  her  family  and  was  herself  an  invalid:  ''Hus- 
band, family,  friends  are  indeed  links  in  a  chain 
by  w^hich  we  are  bound  to  God,  but  as  these  links 
are  one  after  another  removed  the  chain  becomes 
shorter  and  we  come  closer  to  God,  until  at  last 
nothing  intervenes  and  we  are  ourselves  united 
directly  to  him." 

If  this  be  the  office  of  our  sufferings  and  our 
sorrows  why  should  w^e  allow  them  to  make  us  sad  ? 
Joy  should  be  the  only  feeling  found  in  the  heart 
approaching  nearer  and  nearer  to  God.  Joy  and 
progress  are  firm  friends,  and  they  love  each  other's 
company.  The  people  who  are  the  most  truly  ad- 
vancing are  the  people  on  whose  faces  a  smile  is 
most  often  seen.  If  then  sorrow  is  depressing  you 
and  making  dark  a  world  that  is  bright  to  others, 
the  admonition  of  Paul  is  for  you.  "Forgetting  the 
things  which  are  behind,  and  stretching  forth  to  the 
things     which     are     before" — larger     growth     in 

107 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

spiritual  things,  richer  experiences  in  the  Chris- 
tian hfe,  higher  joys  in  the  Hfe  that  is  to  come; 
remembering  these  things,  ''press  on  toward  the 
goal  unto  the  prize." 

Experience  proves  the  truth  of  the  contention  of 
Dr.  Edgar: 

The  city  of  God  could  ill  spare  this  river  of  forgetfulness. 
Indeed,  it  is  only  in  the  city  of  God  that  it  flows  in  crystal 
purity  and  can  be  drunk  without  danger.  There  are  muddy 
streams  which  ingenuity  provides,  intoxicants  which  rob  man- 
kind through  the  senses  of  tb.eir  memory;  but  the  waking- 
time  comes  and  the  furies  are  afoot  once  more.  In  the  Lethe 
of  God,  on  the  contrary,  we  may  drink  and  forget  a  painful, 
imperfect  past,  so  far  as  this  would  keep  us  from  a  nobler 
future. 

Still  another  class  of  experiences  must  be  for- 
gotten in  still  another  way  as  we  go  from  the  less 
to  the  greater;  I  speak  of  those  which  are  to  be  so 
forgotten  that  their  only  recurrence  will  impel  the 
mind  to  avoid  them. 

Among  them  may  be  classed  past  failures,  evil 
companionships  and  past  pleasures  and  indulgences 
that  are  ever  inviting  us  back.  In  the  "Auto- 
biography of  a  Criminal"  that  appeared  recently  in 
one  of  our  prominent  religious  journals  the  author 
tells  us  of  many  times  w^hen  through  the  inter- 
cession of  friends  or  by  his  own  efforts  he  had 
straightened  up  and  tried  to  start  a  new  life,  he 
could  get  along  well  until  by  some  chance  he  fell  in 

io8 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

with  old  companions;  then  everything  was  thrown 
over  and  he  sank  down  lower  than  before. 

Past  failures,  too,  stand  like  a  ''Giant's  Cause- 
way" before  many  capable  men  and  women.  Al- 
though happening  in  the  past  they  in  some  way 
shift  their  position  to  the  present  and  stand  as 
impassable  barriers  to  effort  or  success.  And  yet 
past  failures  may  argue  more  for  future  success 
than  for  future  failure.  We  do  not  forget  that 
Demosthenes  was  hissed  from  the  stage  when  he 
first  began  to  speak.  It  seemed  like  failure,  but  it 
was  the  cause  of  his  success.  Nearly  every  writer 
of  any  prominence  had  his  first  manuscripts  re- 
turned, unused  by  publishers.  Mr.  Moody  was 
strongly  advised  not  to  try  to  speak  in  public  but 
to  be  content  with  being  a  respectful  hearer  of 
others. 

I  join  Dr.  W.  J.  Dawson  in  saying :  'The  cour- 
age of  forgetfulness  is  not  only  an  act  of  faith,  it  is 
the  one  source  of  moral  progress.  We  must  be 
perpetually  cutting  ourselves  free  from  the  past 
if  we  are  to  push  on  to  a  larger  and  better  future. 
The  artist  forgets  his  early  failures,  the  author  his 
first  grotesque  experiments  in  literature,  and  the 
saint  his  first  stumbling  steps  for  the  same  reason, 
a  reason  which  is  imperative,  that  no  progress  is 
possible  to  a  mind  clogged  by  the  weight  of  past 
errors." 

The  man,  therefore,  who  so  cherishes  the  memory 
of  past  failures  as  to  be  hindered  in  his  progress 

109 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

is  being  hindered  by  the  very  things  that  have  urged 
other  men  onward.  He  will  be  more  careful  at 
this  point  next  time,  will  guard  small  leakages, 
small  mistakes,  small  losses  which,  although  small, 
often  make  the  diflference  between  success  and  fail- 
ure. In  seeming  failure  ''Moses  grew  into  one 
of  the  princeliest  of  men,  while  Paul  in  the  humble 
trade  of  tentmaker  reached  the  sublime  in  character 
and  service." 

Headley  says  of  General  Ulysses  S.  Grant :  "A 
strong  man  by  nature,  he  had  to  learn  by  failures 
how  to  win  ultimate  success.  We  find  that  both 
he  and  Sherman,  w^ho  at  the  close  of  the  war  stood 
up  as  our  foremost  generals,  came  very  near  being 
removed  from  command  for  their  mistakes,  or  at 
least  want  of  success."  Abraham  Lincoln  was  de- 
feated when  he  first  ran  for  the  Legislature.  The 
American  Revolution,  gloriously  successful  as  it 
was  at  the  last,  began  in  ignominious  defeat. 

Time  was  when  Christianity  itself  seemed  al- 
ready passed  into  the  shades  of  oblivion.  Its 
founder  was  nailed  to  a  cross,  its  early  adherents 
were  dispersed,  those  who  dared  to  advocate  its 
principles  laid  themselves  liable  to  instant  death, 
but  that  early  defeat  was  quickly  forgotten  when 
the  risen  Christ  appeared  before  them.  What,  has 
he  power  over  the  grave?  Can  strong  sepulcher 
and  Roman  guard  not  hold  the  body  of  the  Lord? 
Surely  then  his  spirit  is  free  to  go  whithersoever 
it  wills.     So,  taking  heart,  those  early  fathers  gave 

no 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

root  to  the  seed,  gave  permanence  to  the  Chris- 
tianity that  blesses  the  world  to-day.  If  the  past 
has  held  only  failures  for  you,  forget  the  past,  look 
not  mournfully  into  a  time  that  comes  not  back 
again,  but,  taking  advantage  of  the  glorious  pres- 
ent and  the  auspicious  future,  create  success  for 
yourself  and  be  an  inspiring  example  to  others. 

A  fourth  class  of  memories  that  must  be  forgot- 
ten before  any  large  progress  can  attend  our  ef- 
forts are  those  successes  which,  while  they  need  not 
be  entirely  obliterated  from  the  mind,  must  not 
be  relied  upon  for  present  advancement  or  given 
as  an  excuse  for  present  inactivity. 

The  man  who  in  present  idleness  is  all  the  while 
dilating  on  what  he  has  done  in  the  past  soon  loses 
the  respect  and  homage  of  his  associates.  A  truly 
great  man  never  does  such  a  thing  or  one  who  has 
intentionally  done  a  really  great  service.  No  more 
notable  or  timely  illustration  of  this  truth  could  be 
named  than  that  of  Assistant  Naval  Constructor 
Hobson  in  the  Cuban  War.  His  heroic  exploit  at 
the  mouth  of  Santiago  Bay  gave  him  the  homage 
of  the  world  and  entitled  him  and  his  seven  brave 
men  to  retirement  from  active  service,  but  instead 
of  choosing  such  an  alternative  and  relying  upon 
past  achievement,  Hobson  went  right  on  faithfully 
discharging  the  duties  of  his  subordinate  office  and 
displayed  no  anxiety  about  the  conferment  of 
honors  by  the  government.  The  man  who  has  done 
one   brave   deed   is   the   man  best   prepared   to   do 

III 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

others.  So  the  man  who  has  attained  one  success 
should  not  rely  upon  that  success,  but  forgetting 
those  things  which  are  behind  press  forward  to 
more  and  larger  successes. 

Reliance  upon  conditions  of  birth  is  also  fatal 
to  progress.  The  history  of  any  generation  in  free 
America  bears  full  record  to  this  well-known  truth. 
Grateful  as  are  the  blessings  an  ample  purse  may 
supply,  one  had  better  be  born  a  pauper  than  a 
millionaire  if  he  desires  to  take  a  place  in  the  world. 
It  has  been  decreed  that  effort  alone  will  bring  a 
man  into  prominence.  All  those  reared  in  the 
cradle  of  luxury  are  averse  to  effort.  Many  of  them 
have  been  educated  to  consider  it  degrading,  and 
as  a  consequence  they  are  doomed  to  eat,  drink  and 
be  miserable  and  to-morrow  die  and  be  forgotten. 
If  birth  has  given  you  noble  ancestry  or  wealth, 
have  a  care  lest  your  blessings  entangle  your  feet 
as  a  net  and  forbid  your  going  forward  in  the  esti- 
mation of  God  and  the  world. 

In  the  ancient  times  God  spake  by  the  mouth  of 
his  prophet  to  the  children  of  Israel :  ''Remember 
ye  not  the  former  things,  neither  consider  the 
things  of  old.  Behold,  I  will  do  a  new  thing."  In 
the  march  of  man  from  Eden  to  the  millennium  the 
old  things  must  ever  be  superseded  by  the  new  and 
for  present  necessity  the  new  will  ever  be  superior  to 
the  old.  Therefore  it  is  right  that  the  old  shall  be 
forgotten.  Old  ways  of  life,  old  methods  of  work, 
old  ideas  that  are  too  narrow  for  to-day,  and  new 

112 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

ways,  methods,  ideas  substituted  that  will  do  most 
to  promote   the   advancement   of   the   race. 

The  case  of  two  college  professors  may  well  illus- 
trate this  contention :  The  one  is  crowded  full  of 
some  other  man's  thoughts  that  he  is  intending  to 
recite,  parrotlike,  to  his  classes.  He  remembers 
the  past  only.  The  other  has  gone  into  his  labora- 
tory or  into  his  library  and  has  discovered  some- 
thing new.  When  he  steps  before  his  class  it  is  to 
give  them  something  in  vital  touch  with  the  present, 
something  that  lives  and  breathes  and  grows.  It 
has  been  well  said,  "One  is  a  taskmaster,  the  other 
an  inspiration." 

Travel  by  foot  or  horse  was  well  enough  perhaps 
before  the  interests  of  man  became  so  complex,  be- 
fore families  became  so  widely  separated,  but  with 
the  advance  of  interests  came  the  demand  for  some 
new  methods  of  locomotion  and  Yankee  ingenuity 
and  skill  responded  with  steamboat  and  locomotive. 
The  hand  loom  furnished  sufficient  clothing  for  the 
members  of  a  single  household  but  when  others, 
occupied  by  other  interests,  called  upon  their  neigh- 
bor for  cloth  he  was  compelled  to  enlarge  his 
loom  and  run  it  by  steam  power.  Formerly  it  was 
only  necessary  to  announce  a  service  and  open  the 
church  door  and  an  audience  would  quickly  fill  the 
building:  to-day  doing  this  alone  the  preacher  is 
rewarded  with  empty  seats.  "Old  things  are  passed 
away;  behold,  they  are  become  new."  The  nation, 
the  individual,  the  church  that  fails  to  recognize  and 

113 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

act  upon  this  principle  is  standing  still  and  will 
stand  still  until  it  wakens  to  the  demands  of  the 
present. 

The  command  is  imperative.  Forget  those  things 
which  are  behind.  All  past  failures,  all  past  mis- 
takes, all  past  injuries,  all  past  experiences,  all  past 
methods  that  tend  to  hold  us  back,  and,  reaching 
forth  to  those  things  which  are  before,  press  toward 
the  mark  for  the  prize. 

Both  the  method  and  the  object  of  Paul's  activity 
are  to  be  commended:  "It  is  essential  to  enthu- 
siasm," says  an  able  student,  ''to  have  our  action 
unified  into  a  single  glorious  purpose.  Hence  Paul 
could  say,  'One  thing  I  do.'  He  w^ould  not  allow 
the  past  to  distract  him  from  proper  concentra- 
tion. One  purpose  of  perfection  dominated  his 
w^hole  life  and  conduct.  Hence  his  draughts  of  the 
Lethean  river  fitted  him  for  the  sublime  and  single 
purpose  of  attaining  the  ideal  of  Christ.  The  soul 
who  refuses  to  be  distracted  by  the  past  and  sets 
himself  steadily  to  fulfill  the  mission  God  has  given 
him  will  find  In  his  concentration  the  secret  of 
power." 

Best  of  all  about  Paul's  endeavor  was  the  glorious 
prize  he  sought :  "the  high  calling  of  God  in  Christ 
Jesus."  If  the  end  does  not  justify  the  means  It 
often  suggests  and  consecrates  them.  The  man 
who  is  ready  to  make  growing  Into  the  likeness 
of  Christ  the  sublime  goal  of  his  life  will  find  all 
work  glorified  and  all  time  precious.     He  will  forget 

114 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

all  that  hinders  his  progress,  he  will  remember  all 
that  helps.  To  cherish  hatred  and  envy  and  re- 
venge is  to  sink  downward  toward  a  demon ;  to  for- 
give and  forget  and  serve  is  to  rise  upward  toward 
God.  Which  way  are  you  going?  There  are 
only  two. 


115 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 


Chapter   Eight 

PROGRESS  IN  CHRISTIAN  CULTURE: 
BY  REMEMBERING 

After  half  a  lifetime  of  wise  observation  and  study 
Hamilton  W.  Mabie  said,  "The  past  is  gone  and 
cannot  now  be  altered;  the  present  is  largely  gov- 
erned by  w4iat  we  were  in  the  past ;  only  the  future 
is  really  in  our  control." 

As  we  move  out  into  this  mysterious  and  uncer- 
tain period  we  should  do  so  with  the  full  exercise 
of  every  faculty  we  possess.  The  true  man  and 
woman  will  approach  the  future  in  the  spirit  of 
the  old  maxim : 

Work  as  though  you  would  live  forever; 
Live  as  though  you  would  die  to-morrow. 

For  all  who  go  forward  in  this  spirit  the  future 
holds  only  the  richest  successes. 

We  must  remember  that  however  dim  and  un- 
certain the  future  may  look  to  us  to-day,  when  it 
finally  becomes  "the  present"  it  will  be  very  much 
like  the  time  through  which  we  are  now  passing. 
It  will  call  for  sacrifice,  it  will  call  for  altruism,  it 
will  call  for  intense  activity.     Man  will  no  more  be 

ii6 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

permitted  to  stand  still  in  the  next  decade  than  he 
is  in  this.  The  Utopian  haze  that  enshrouds  the 
future  largely  vanishes  as  we  approach  it  and  pres- 
ent anticipations  become  realities  only  when  the 
most  strenuous  effort  is  put  forth  during  the  days 
that  intervene.  Hence  the  possessions  we  greatly 
desire  in  the  future  will  come  to  us  only  if  we  now 
set  and  keep  in  motion  forces  known  to  be  produc- 
tive of  them. 

The  tiller  of  the  soil,  wishing  a  crop  of  corn  in 
the  autumn,  appreciates  the  necessity  of  starting  in 
the  springtime  with  the  right  materials  and  of 
expending  a  certain  amount  of  labor  during  all  the 
intervening  period.  A  picture  is  in  his  mind,  not 
visible  to  the  uninitiated.  Upon  mental  canvas  he 
spreads  materials  we  call  earth,  seed,  rain,  sun, 
human  labor,  and  a  rich  picture  of  a  full  granary 
rewards  him.  But  that  picture  becomes  a  reality 
not  because  the  future  becomes  the  present,  but  be- 
cause during  the  time  that  intervenes  every  detail 
of  the  first  ideal  is  carried  out;  ground  is  prepared, 
seed  is  sown,  rain  falls,  sun  shines,  labor  is  ex- 
pended. As  we  perfect  the  roseate-hued  canvas  of 
our  future  let  it  be  done  with  some  such  apprecia- 
tion as  marks  the  course  of  these  honest  sons  of 
toil. 

If  man  does  not  live  by  bread  alone,  neither  does 
he  progress  by  the  exercise  of  one  power  alone. 
Powers  of  body,  mind  and  spirit  are  set  in  motion 
and  each  one  does  a  share.     Of  the  powers  of  the 

117 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

mind,  conception,  thought,  imagination  do  much, 
but  memory  performs  a  full,  if  not  a  lion's,  share. 
It  is  only  because  of  her  that  conception,  thought, 
imagination,  possess  any  value  for  the  soul.  As 
grains  of  sand  become  valuable  to  the  builder  of 
a  palace  only  when  millions  of  them  have  been 
gathered  together,  so  thoughts,  conceptions,  imagi- 
nations, often  microscopic  in  proportion,  become 
valuable  to  the  soul  only  when  memory  gathers  them 
together  and  presents  them  in  large  numbers  and  in 
their  true  perspective. 

But  how  shall  memory,  which  is  denied  any  con- 
tact with  the  future,  which  is  doomed  to  content 
herself  with  an  unchangeable  past  which  comes  not 
back  again,  assist  man  in  progressing?  If  this  ques- 
tion is  ever  put  it  is  before  serious  thought  has  had  a 
chance  to  give  her  weighty  answers.  Memory  is  as 
essential  to  man's  progress  as  wind  to  the  sailboat, 
as  steam  to  the  locomotive,  as  electricity  or  gas  to 
our  motor  cars. 

Like  a  mighty  engine,  memory  pushes  man  for- 
ward by  reminding  him  of  past  failures  and  the 
shortness  of  time.  Like  a  powerful  dynamo,  she 
pulls  him  forward  by  reminding  him  of  what  other 
men  have  accomplished  and  of  how  pleasant  it  is  to 
have  material  substance  for  the  needs  of  the  passing 
hours;  as  a  coy  maiden,  she  coaxes  him  onward 
with  the  recital  of  honors  conferred  upon  others 
for  bravery  and  service;  as  a  frightful  witch,  she 
scares  him  into  activity  by  reminding  him  of  the 

ii8 


PROGRESS    IN   CHRISTIAN   CULTURE 

awful  doom  of  the  slothful  servant.  Every  clay, 
every  hour,  does  memory  come  in  to  assist  man 
in  his  passing  from  the  less  to  the  greater.  How- 
ever faulty  the  memory  may  prove  to  be  as  touching 
dates  and  names,  she  never  fails  in  accurately  bring- 
ing before  the  soul  those  thoughts  and  experiences 
that  effect  man's  progress.  The  causes  of  one 
failure  are  never  forgotten,  the  attendants  of  one 
success  are  readily  recalled  when  another  is 
promising. 

Without  controversy  man's  progress  in  life  would 
be  more  rapid  if  he  followed  the  instructions  of 
John  the  Divine  to  the  Church  of  Ephesus.  "Re- 
member therefore  whence  thou  art  fallen,  and  re- 
pent and  do  the  first  works. "^ 

With  this  suggestion  the  memory  carries  us, 
through  the^  inspired  page,  back  to  the  days  of 
man's  creation  and  we  see  him  fresh  from  the  hand 
of  his  Maker,  a  magnificent  specimen  in  body,  mind 
and  soul,  capable  of  all  things  high  and  noble.  Hav- 
ing been  brought  to  the  highest  perfection  of  ani- 
mal creation,  man  stood  as  a  perfect  engine  stands, 
waiting  for  the  introduction  of  steam.  Helpless 
now,  it  will  become  a  giant  then.  So  man,  in  all 
the  perfection  of  form  and  feature,  waited  the  in- 
breathing of  the  breath  of  life.  With  that  divine 
breath  there  came  into  him  knowledge,  righteous- 
ness and  true  holiness ;  all  attributes  of  God  himself. 
When  it  pleased  God  to  make  man  after  his  own 

^Rev.  2 :  5. 

119 


PROGRKSS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

image  it  would  only  be  following  the  usual  course 
for  him  to  make  the  image  perfect — an  exact  re- 
])roduction,  in  finite  proportioH,  of  the  perfection  of 
Ciod  himself.  Behold  thy  natural  and  federal  head 
s]:)ringing  forth,  a  Hercules,  from  the  hand  of  God! 
In  his  first  estate  Shakspere's  picture  is  a  true 
one,  ''What  a  piece  of  work  is  a  man!  how  noble 
in  reason !  how  infinite  in  faculty !  in  form  and  mov- 
ing how  express  and  admirable!  in  action  how 
like  an  angel!  in  apprehension  how  like  a  god!" 

Useless  now  your  efforts  to  blot  out  the  picture. 
Faithful  memory  cherishes  it  as  one  of  her  rightful 
possessions.  Instead  of  endeavoring  to  blot  it  out, 
bring  forth  rich  pigments  and  retouch  the  faded 
canvas ;  make  bright  every  feature  that  has  become 
dimmed  and  gaze  with  yearning  eye  upon  that  per- 
fection which,  if  never  again  fully  attainable,  is  at 
least  nearly  approachable.  "Remember  therefore 
whence  thou  art  fallen." 

"Repent,"  comes  the  word  of  the  prophet,  "re- 
pent and  do  the  first  works."  The  preliminary 
work — the  righting  yourself  with  God — in  knowl- 
edge, righteousness  and  true  holiness  and  now,  with 
effort  continuous,  unabating,  you  may  go  on  toward 
perfection  during  the  days  that  remain  to  you  in 
this  life.  Touching  indeed  the  moan  of  the  poet 
in  Hyperion's  pages : 

Alas !  it  is  not  till  time,  with  reckless  hand,   has  torn  out 
half  the  leaves  from  the  Book  of  Human  Life  to  light  the 

120 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

fires  of  passion  from  day  to  day  that  man  begins  to  see  that 
the  leaves  which   remain   are   few  in  number. 

With  equal  concern  we  cry,  haste  you,  man  and 
woman  of  the  world.  That  picture  of  one-time 
perfection  held  before  your  wondering  soul  by 
memory's  power  is  sent  of  God  to  rouse  you  from 
your  state  of  self-satisfied  inaction  to  one  of  striv- 
ing to  regain  what  once  was  yours.  The  wildest 
flights  of  quick  imagination  will  fail  utterly  to  pro- 
duce a  picture  that  will  draw  you  from  before  as 
this  splendid  production  of  memory  pushes  you 
from  behind.  The  one  is  man-made,  tinged  with 
all  his  weakness  and  imperfections;  the  other  is  of 
God,  the  infinite  Father  of  all;  to  whom  all  colors 
of  light  and  shade  are  as  familiar  as  the  noonday 
sun  and  who,  with  consummate  skill,  has  blended 
all  in  the  creation  of  a  perfect  man.  ''Remember 
therefore  whence  thou  art  fallen,  and  repent  and 
do  the  first  works." 

The  wisdom  of  the  Preacher  led  him  in  days 
now  three  thousand  years  agone  to  yearn  over  the 
lives  of  boys  and  girls  and  to  admonish  them  in 
words  of  love :  "Remember  also  thy  Creator  in  the 
days  of  thy  youth. "^ 

''O  wad  some  power  the  giftie  gie  us"  to  see  in 
youth  what  present  practices  will  yield  by  the  time 
old  age  is  upon  us,  to  see  that  if  we  remember  our 
Creator  in  the  days  of  our  youth  he  will  remember 

^Eccl.  12 :  J. 

121 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

us  in  the  days  of  our  maturity.  It  is  the  bane  of 
the  age  that  thoughts  and  scenes  of  the  world  so 
quickly  discolor  and  finally  well  nigh  blot  out  the 
pure  teachings  of  youthful  days.  The  fault  lies  less 
with  the  child  than  with  the  parent.  To  remain 
intact,  against  all  the  crowding  influences  of  the 
world,  instruction  by  word  and  example  must  be 
straightforward  and  unfaltering.  It  is  utterly  use- 
less to  spend  three  or  four  hours  on  Sunday  instruct- 
ing our  children  to  remember  the  Sabbath  day  to 
keep  it  holy  if  the  next  hour  we  desecrate  it  our- 
selves. That  one  act  of  ours  will  have  more  of  an 
influence  upon  the  child's  life  than  the  instruction 
of  a  whole  afternoon.  Neither  is  it  fruitful  of 
good  to  instruct  children  concerning  God  and  the 
Christ-life  in  a  halting,  half-critical,  plainly  doubt- 
ing sort  of  way.  The  world's  lessons  are  delivered 
from  the  shoulder.  They  are  planted  with  the 
force  and  positiveness  of  an  armor-piercing  shell. 
If  Christian  truth  is  to  strike,  if  children  are  to 
remember  their  Creator  in  the  days  of  their  youth, 
lessons  concerning  him  must  be  given  with  the  same 
positiveness  and  force.  Let  the  instructors  do  their 
work  right  and  the  results  will  be  far  more  satis- 
factory to  teacher,  taught  and  God. 

Always  keeping  before  the  mind  the  memory  of 
our  Creator  has  a  wonderful  effect  upon  our  lives. 
It  is  the  same  effect  that  is  produced  upon  the 
statue  by  the  sculptor  always  keeping  his  eye  upon 
his  model.     The  perfections  of  that  model  are  sure 

122 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

to  be  found  in  more  or  less  degree  in  the  statue 
thus  molded. 

So  faithful  is  memory  that  even  when  the  eye  is 
withdrawn  from  the  model  for  a  moment  every 
line,  every  curve  still  stand  before  the  mind  in  exact 
proportion.  So  true  does  this  become  in  the  case 
of  the  artist  that  we  are  not  surprised  to  hear  Dore 
tell  us  that  "after  driving  through  Windsor  Park 
he  could  recall  every  tree  he  had  passed  and  draw 
every  shrub  from  memory."  Once  get  the  image 
of  his  Creator  firmly  fixed  in  the  heart  and  mind 
of  the  child  and  memory,  that  truest  servant  of 
progress,  will  keep  it  there,  ever  urging  her  master 
to  imitate  the  divine  perfection. 

Nothing  can  be  remembered  that  has  never 
passed  through  the  mind;  hence,  if  the  youth  is  to 
remember  his  Creator,  a  clear  cut,  positive,  per- 
fectly drawn  picture  of  this  Creator  must  be  given 
him  by  his  instructors.  This  perfect  picture  of 
God  comes  to  older  minds  from  experience,  from 
nature,  from  the  inspired  Word,  from  the  life  and 
teaching  of  Jesus  Christ.  When  each  has  added 
its  part  the  picture  is  ready  to  be  transferred  to 
others  who  cannot  see  so  fully  or  so  wtII.  Small 
fears  need  be  entertained  for  the  children  when 
parents  and  instructors  give  them  true  conceptions, 
by  word  and  by  example,  of  God  and  his  law. 

No  man  or  woman  lives  to-day  who  does  not  have 
large  cause  for  remembering,  with  gratitude,  past 
blessings  and,  with  the  vast  majority  of  us,  these 

123 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

have  been  so  many  as  to  make  their  coming  re- 
semble a  stream  flowing-  from  a  never  failing 
fountain. 

These  memories  assist  progress  in  two  w^ays. 
First,  when,  like  Ariel,  we  remember  "from  what 
torment  we  have  been  freed"  we  are  gladly  willing 
to  go  on  serving  our  Master  so  long  as  he  can  vise 
us,  and  with  every  exertion,  short  of  violence,  we 
become  more  strong.  The  binding  torture  of  cloven 
pine  tree  or  imprisonment  for  twelve  long  winters 
in  the  knotty  entrails  of  some  giant  oak  are  tor- 
tures light  indeed  compared  with  those  from  which 
many  men  have  been  released  by  God.  The  awful 
sense  of  flagrant  sin  from  which  so  many  have  been 
freed  surely  puts  them  under  lasting  obligations  to 
do  God's  will  so  long  as  he  honors  them  with  his 
directions.  Lost  souls  in  purgatory  cannot  be  more 
wretched  than  the  man  awakened  to  a  sense  of  his 
guilt  in  the  sight  of  a  righteous  God.  When,  in 
the  unrivaled  exercise  of  his  mercy,  God  makes  pro- 
vision for  his  release,  such  a  soul  must  ever  profit 
from  a  memory  of  that  from  which  he  has  been 
freed  and  be  glad  to  serve  his  Saviour  all  his  days. 

Others  from  an  evil  imagination,  from  an  unruly 
temper,  from  bodily  pain  or  weakness  have  been 
set  free  by  the  generous  hand  of  the  Father  God  and 
such  release  should  make  them  willing  servants  of 
Immanuel.  Unlike  the  labor  of  the  slave  which 
deforms  and  stultifies,  work  for  God  ennobles  and 
makes  strong.     The  meanest  service  "in  his  name" 

124 


PROGRESS    IN   CHRISTIAN   CULTURE 

adds  bone  and  sinew  to  the  spirit's  life.  Let  him 
therefore  who  would  progress  remember  past  bless- 
ings and  this  in  turn  will  lead  to  clear  remembrance 
of  him  who  gave  them,  whom  to  serve  is  in  itself 
unrivaled  blessing. 

The  second  part  of  this  same  benefit  lies  in  the 
remembrance  that  this  same  God  has  other  blessings 
in  reserve  and  that,  after  the  first  great  free  favor 
of  loving  us  when  we  were  in  rebellion,  blessings 
have  a  strict  relationship  to  the  worthiness  of  the 
receiver.  The  more  we  make  ourselves  worthy  of 
the  blessings  of  God  the  more  will  he  fully  and 
gladly  bestow.  For  Caliban,  Prospero  had  only 
further  punishments  because  of  his  unworthiness, 
while  for  Ariel,  the  dainty  sprite  that  served  him 
well,  he  had  increasing  commendation  and  final  lib- 
erty. It  is  the  duty  of  every  man  and  an  imperative 
necessity  for  everyone  who  w^ould  progress  to 
make  himself  worthy  of  the  smile  of  God.  His 
physical  being  should  be  made  strong  and  beautiful 
that  it  may  be  made  meet  for  the  indwelling  of  the 
Holy  Spirit.  His  mental  powers  should  be  brought 
to  the  highest  development  possible  to  the  man  that 
he  may  be  the  better  able  to  understand  God's  will 
as  he  has  made  it  known  in  nature,  experience  and 
the  written  Word,  while  the  soul  of  man  which 
looks  upon  a  kingdom  unknown  to  eye  or  mind 
must,  in  the  exercise  of  worship  and  meditation, 
draw  near  the  great  divine  Example. 

It  is   to  choice   lives  made  more  beautiful   and 
125 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

perfect  by  human  effort  that  God  delights  to  come 
and  pour  out  such  a  blessing  that  man  is  unable  to 
contain  it  all.  After  years  of  struggle  Paul  found 
himself  able  to  keep  his  body  under,  and  imme- 
diately his  great  mind  and  soul  strode  forward  in 
wisdom  and  experience  until  he  became  an  intel- 
lectual and  spiritual  giant.  George  Muller,  the 
patriarch  of  Bristol,  had  in  youth  an  almost  uncon- 
trollable tendency  to  flagrant  sin  but,  becoming  con- 
vinced that  God  had  a  work  for  him  to  do,  he 
began  the  long  struggle  of  making  himself  a  fitter 
servant,  and  no  man  of  the  last  century  was  more 
blessed  than  he.  If  it  is  important  to  trust  in  God  it 
is  just  as  important  to  keep  your  powder  dry!  God 
blesses  man's  efforts  to  help  himself.  If  you  would 
become  stronger  than  you  are  to-day  make  yourself 
more  worthy  of  God's  blessing,  a  work  that  is 
largely  in  your  own  hands,  and  he  will  gladly  grant 
you  larger  and  richer  blessings,  a  work  that  is  en- 
tirely in  his  hands. 

In  his  march  toward  success  the  average  man 
will  be  largely  benefited  by  remembering  his  parents 
and  friends.  He  owes  them  so  much  that  to  forget 
them  is  to  sear  the  emotions  as  with  a  hot  iron  and 
render  them  stiff  and  inactive.  So  important  in  the 
sight  of  God  is  the  remembering  with  honor  our 
parents,  that  it  is  the  only  commandment  in  the 
decalogue  to  which  he  attached  a  promise.  The 
man  who  deliberately  forgets  or  dishonors  his 
parents  has,  as  it  were,  let  out  a  part  of  his  life- 

126 


PROGRESS   IN   CHRISTIAN   CULTURE 

blood  that  gives  him  strength  for  his  duties.  He 
has  cut  loose  from  a  part  of  his  inheritance  that  is 
not  less  than  capital  stock  with  which  he  is  to  earn 
his  livelihood.  He  has  himself  severed  his  branch 
from  the  vine  and  heart  and  soul  decay  is  the  only 
thing  possible  for  him  as  he  goes  on  through  the 
world. 

Because  of  his  myriad  pressing  duties  as  the  chief 
executive  of  a  great  nation,  the  people  would  have 
excused  President  McKinley  from  making  repeated 
journeys  to  the  bedside  of  his  sick  mother,  at  least 
until  the  last  hours  had  come,  and  he  would  have 
retained  the  same  high  place  in  their  affections,  but 
his  great  heart,  seeking  not  the  plaudits  of  a  nation 
but  loving  that  saintly  mother  with  a  true  son's 
devotion,  he,  time  after  time,  left  his  seat  at  Wash- 
ington— a  i^lace  higher  than  any  throne  in  the 
world — and  hastened  with  the  speed  of  the  wind 
to  be  with  her  and  give  her  some  word  of  comfort 
and  cheer  during  her  last  days  on  earth.  Yes,  in 
view  of  his  position  and  its  pressing  duties,  we 
would  have  excused  him  from  making  so  many 
visits  but,  doing  as  he  did,  President  McKinley  ad- 
vanced himself  in  the  estimation  of  the  American 
people  a  hundredfold.  Not  only  did  he  grant  her 
an  occasional  visit  but  every  single  day  during  a 
long  period  of  years  that  son  sent  some  w^ord  to 
his  loving  mother.  A  letter,  a  message,  some  way, 
no  matter  how  greatly  pressed  by  affairs  of  state, 
this  noble  son  sent  some  evidence  of  his  love  to 

127 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

the  one  who  bore  him.  Tell  me  not  that  when 
people  become  great  they  often  do  such  things ! 
Only  the  people  w^ho  do  such  things  from  the  heart 
ever  become  great ! 

A  full  remembrance  of  parents,  the  great  ser- 
vices the}^  have  done  us,  the  sacrifices  they  have 
made  for  us,  the  love  they  bear  us,  keeps  alive  a 
fire  in  our  souls  that  gives  us  power.  Allow  that 
fire  to  die  down  and  man  becomes  more  and  more 
hardened,  he  ceases  to  remember  wife,  children, 
home,  friends,  and  becomes  a  selfish,  crabbed,  hard- 
shelled  egotist  who  is  doomed  to  die  in  the  confines 
of  the  very  shell  his  faithless  life  has  bound  upon 
him.  In  their  care  for  the  aged,  for  the  fathers 
and  mothers  of  the  tribe,  the  American  Indians  fur- 
nish a  worthy  lesson.  Even  the  poorest  and  lowest 
of  the  Chinese  give  the  place  of  honor  both  at  table 
and  upon  the  resting  benches  to  those  advanced 
in  age. 

The  man  with  a  warm  heart  toward  those  w^io 
bore  him,  who  cared  for  him  before  he  became  able 
to  care  for  himself,  w^ho  love  him  more  than  they 
love  their  own  selves,  has  a  fire  burning  within  that 
will  keep  him  warm  toward  all  mankind,  and  only 
those  who  have  such  a  love  does  mankind  urge 
to  the  front. 

You  see  then  how  large  a  part  memory  has  in 
man's  progress  and  as  yet  we  have  looked  at  but 
few  instances.  No  stride  forward  but  has  its  comple- 
ment in  the  past  and  the  past  is  brought  before  us 

12S 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN   CULTURE 

by  memory  alone.  It  is  as  though  man  had  a  great 
treasury  into  which  he  could  put  his  hand  at  pleasure 
and  take  out  that  which  would  help  him  forward. 
Memories  of  failures  come  to  make  us  more  careful 
in  the  future.  Memories  of  sins  drive  us  to 
righteousness,  memories  of  blessings  and  of  where 
they  came  from,  memories  of  what  other  men  by 
human  effort  have  accomplished,  memories  of  les- 
sons learned  in  the  school  of  experience,  memories 
of  parents,  memories  of  friends,  all  so  much  gold 
that  will  buy  our  passage  on  the  railway  called 
Industry  to  the  city  called  Success. 

Come,  then,  take  passage.  Thousands  are  going 
and  you  should  be  among  them.  Lack  of  effort 
means  lack  of  reward.  By  mere  chance  present 
inaction  may  yield  present  comfort,  but  present 
activity  will  yield  riches  and  honor  both  present  and 
future.  Open  the  doors  of  ready  memory  and  take 
out  those  thoughts,  conceptions,  imaginations,  ex- 
periences that  you  have  been  all  the  years  of  your 
life  gathering;  lay  them  out  before  you.  They  will 
instantly  become  chart  and  compass,  making  plain 
the  way  into  the  days  called  future.  Far  better  meet 
these  days  halfway  by  having  something  marked 
out  for  each  one  of  them  than  be  compelled  to  drag 
through  their  lonesome  hours  with  nothing  to  do 
that  makes  for  more  strength  and  a  higher  place  in 
the  world. 

Take  advantage  of  this  heaven-born  helper.  She 
longs  to  serve  thee  and  but  waits  thy  call.     Bid  her 

129 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

bring  forth  the  richest  pearls  of  her  storehouse  and, 
touched  by  the  smile  of  God,  let  them  light  thy  path- 
way into  lands  unknown.  Each  shore  explored  will 
increase  your  knowledge  of  the  world  we  live  in, 
each  victory  new  will  add  its  trophies  to  the  sum 
until  at  last,  allotted  time  expiring,  enriched  by 
service  and  made  strong  by  love,  thy  Father,  Maker, 
God,  will  call  thee  home. 


130 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN   CULTURE 


Chapter  Nine 

PROGRESS  IN  CHRISTIAN  CULTURE: 
BY  THOUGHT  AND  MEDITATION 

In  this  workaday  age,  when  rapid  and  unceas- 
ing action  seems  to  be  the  only  thing  that  will  meet 
the  demand,  a  slight  seems  to  have  been  thrown 
upon  the  powers  of  thought  and  meditation  as 
elements  in  man's  progress.  To  the  extent  that  this 
is  true  man  is  injuring  himself.  It  was  never  in- 
tended that  the  body  should  supersede  the  mind, 
and  the  maii  who  arbitrarily  inverts  the  natural 
order  is  sure  to  lose  heavily. 

Isaac  Watts,  the  sweet  singer  of  Christian  hymns, 
translating  the  Lyrics  of  Horace,  strikes  firmly 
upon  the  truth  when  he  sings : 

Were  I  so  tall  to  reach  the  pole, 

Or  grasp  the  ocean  with  my  span, 
I  must  be  measured  by  my  soul ; 

The  mind's  the  standard  of  the  man. 

Daniel  Webster,  at  the  laying  of  the  corner  stone 
of  Bunker  Hill  Monument,  standing  in  the  midst  of 
so  much  marble  and  bronze  that  must  be  handled 
by   physical   power,    said    in    his   notable   address, 

131 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN   CULTURE 

"Mind  is  the  great  lever  of  all  things :  human 
thought  is  the  process  by  which  human  ends  are 
ultimately  answered."  Ovid,  in  the  early  dawn  of 
our  larger  knowledge,  saw  and  said,  "It  is  the 
mind  that  makes  the  man,  and  our  vigor  is  in  our 
immortal  soul." 

As  well  try,  by  building  bonfires,  to  make  the 
night  brighter  than  the  day  as  to  make  the  body  of 
more  value  than  the  mind  in  the  process  of  advance- 
ment. A  man  of  three  hundred  pounds  weight  is  as 
quickly  forgotten  as  a  man  of  one  hundred  pounds, 
but  the  man  of  three  times  the  mental  pow^r  is 
remembered  long  after  his  weaker  brother  has  been 
forgotten. 

In  our  study  of  aids  to  human  progress  it  is  there- 
fore imperative  that  we  give  consideration  to  the 
powers  of  the  mind  called  Thought  and  Meditation, 
for  to  neglect  them  would  be  to  neglect  steam  and 
electricity  that  we  might  consider  wind  and  horse 
power. 

Behold  how  like  the  mind  is  electricity.  See  that 
boat  yonder  filled  with  happy  people  riding  the 
water  like  a  swan.  Not  a  sail  to  the  wind,  not  an 
oar  in  the  water,  yet  going  swiftly  and  silently  to  its 
goal.     How  is  it  propelled?     Electricity! 

Behold  that  great  man  going  straight  toward  the 
goal  called  Success.  No  showy  effects,  no  long  list 
of  counselors,  no  bolstering  up  by  friends.  How 
is  he  propelled  ?    Mind ! 

That  was  a  profoundly  significant  retort  made  by 
132 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

the  great  painter  when  asked  by  the  youth  what  he 
mixed  his  paints  with.  "With  brains,  sir,"  said  he, 
"with  brains."  Utensils,  equipment,  materials  are 
nothing  compared  with  the  human  brain  that  is 
behind  them  all. 

To  think  is  to  exercise  the  mind  actively,  espe- 
cially toward  new  ideas;  to  meditate  is  to  exercise 
the  mind  actively  in  the  consideration  of  ideas 
already  possessed.  To  think  is  to  exercise  the  mind 
in  a  straight  line,  to  meditate  is  to  exercise  the  mind 
in  a  circle. 

Thought  is  the  pioneer  who  discovers  new  terri- 
tory; meditation  is  the  civilian  who  settles  and  en- 
riches it.  Thought  discovers  new  truth ;  meditation 
enlarges,  classifies  and  labels  this  truth  to  make  it 
of  value  to  the  life.  Both  are  necessary  to  perma- 
nent progress,  either  religious  or  material.  Let  us 
fortify  the  position,  first  wath  reference  to  the  neces- 
sity of  thought. 

I.  You  desire  to  occupy  new  territory  which  for 
convenience  w^e  may  call  "Success."  This  deter- 
mined upon,  you  are  led  to  see  that  action  is  neces- 
sary. What  will  you  do?  Will  you  first  rush  in 
yourself,  all  unprepared  and  unfamiliar  wath  con- 
ditions that  you  will  find  there,  or  will  you  send 
ahead  some  trusty  agent  who  shall  explore  the  new 
territory,  discover  its  boundaries,  its  productiveness, 
discovering  what  will  be  required  of  you  when  you 
come  ? 

Moses,  the  leader  of  Israel,  believed  this  to  be  the 
^33 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

best  plan  and  so  sent  spies  to  the  land  of  Canaan. 
They  were  to  work  quietly,  studying  both  the  land 
and  its  people;  the  crops,  the  water  supply,  the 
places  of  danger  and  the  places  of  safety.  They 
were  to  study  the  food  supply,  the  roadways,  the 
defenses  of  the  walled  cities.  When  all  had  been 
discovered  they  returned  and  laid  before  the  great 
leader  a  mass  of  facts  that  instantly  familiarized 
him  with  the  new  country  and  effected  his  whole 
plan  of  campaign. 

Eighty  years  ago  our  fathers  in  Pennsylvania  and 
Ohio  thought  this  the  best  plan  and  sent  agents  into 
Illinois  and  low^a  to  discover  what  manner  of  states 
they  were.  When  the  forerunners  returned  telling 
of  timberland  and  rolling  prairies,  of  abundant 
moisture  and  favorable  climatic  conditions,  they 
soon  went  on  themselves  fully  equipped  and  pre- 
pared to  occupy  the  new  country,  bring  it  into  sub- 
jection and  force  it  to  yield  them  both  sustenance 
and  fortune.  So  every  wise  man  desiring  to  occupy 
the  territory  called  ''Success"  will  send  forth  a 
trusty  agent  to  explore  the  land  and  come  and 
report  to  him  conditions. 

Of  all  possible  agents.  Thought  is  the  most  effi- 
cient. High  walls  and  iron  gates  are  no  impediment 
to  his  going.  Into  every  city  we  wish  to  occupy  he 
goes  and  explores.  He  enters  the  city  called  art 
and  comes  back  to  tell  man  if  he  would  occupy 
that  city  he  must  have  a  trained  eye  and  nimble 
fingers  and  a  perfect  knowledge  of  form  and  color. 

134 


PROGRESS   IN   CHRISTIAN   CULTURE 

He  enters  the  city  called  letters  and  returns  to  in- 
form man  that  if  he  would  take  that  city  he  must 
have  a  ready  mind  and  a  tireless  eye,  a  sympathy 
for  historic  fact,  for  rime  and  meter.  He  enters 
the  city  called  science  and  returns  to  inform  his 
master  that  to  occupy  that  city  he  must  have  the 
eye  of  the  microscope  and  the  telescope;  that  he 
must  be  able  to  break  open  rocks  and  read  history 
that  was  written  by  God  centuries  before  the  present 
age;  must  be  able  to  hear  sounds  that  were  uttered 
before  the  voices  of  that  heavenly  host  sang  peace 
on  earth  good  will  to  men ;  must  be  able,  from  frag- 
ment of  bone  or  footprint  in  the  clay,  to  reconstruct 
the  whole  body  of  giant  whale  or  mammoth.  Ap- 
prised of  these  requirements,  man  is  doubly  wise 
and  now  sets  about  preparing  himself  for  the  larger 
activities  upon  which  he  is  to  enter. 

Just  as  a  general  who  has  sent  spies  into  the  terri- 
tory he  determines  to  capture  has  the  advantage  of 
the  one  who  has  not,  so  the  man  who  has  sent  for- 
ward his  thoughts  into  the  new  realms  he  wishes  to 
occupy  has  the  advantage  over  his  less  active 
neighbor. 

This  being  true,  it  follows  that  the  thinker  must 
ever  be  the  man  of  power.  One  man  who  wishes 
to  move  a  stove  weighing  one  thousand  pounds, 
knowing  thac  it  is  too  heavy  for  him  to  move  alone, 
goes  for  four  neighbors  to  help  him.  Another  man 
has  a  stove  of  similar  weight  to  move.  He,  too, 
feels  that  he  cannot  move  it  alone,  but  he  stops  and 

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PROGRESS   IN    CHRISTIAN   CULTURE 

thinks.  In  a  moment  we  see  him  approaching  with 
fulcrum  and  lever  and  the  next  moment  the  stove 
is  moved!  For  all  practical  purposes  such  a  man 
is  five  times  as  powerful  as  his  thoughtless  brother. 

To  the  man  who  thinks,  the  future  becomes  real 
weeks  and  months  before  the  actual  day  approaches. 
To  his  keen  mind  there  appears  a  picture  of  condi- 
tions on  that  future  day  very  much  like  what  the 
reality  will  prove  to  be.  He  weighs  influences  that 
will  have  a  bearing,  takes  every  known  element  into 
consideration,  and  then  he  does  a  wiser  thing  yet; 
he  allows  a  certain  amount  for  unknown  elements — - 
something  for  the  unusual,  and  the  result  is  he  is 
seldom  surprised  and  meets  each  oncoming  day  as 
an  old  friend. 

A  tourist  stood  one  day  at  the  entrance  to  the 
Cave  of  the  Winds  on  Williams  Mountain  in 
Colorado.  He  had  heard  of  the  cave  many  times. 
Through  stones  and  earth  and  every  obstruction  he 
pushed  his  mind  until  there  stretched  out  before  him 
long  avenues,  deep  gorges,  high  domes,  glistening 
stalactites.  When  he  went  in,  it  was  to  say,  Surely  I 
have  been  here  before.  These  avenues  and  arches, 
these  glistening  domes  and  sounding  caves  seem  like 
old  friends. 

So  it  will  ever  be  with  the  man  who  thinks.  He 
will  rarely  be  taken  unawares.  Forewarned  by 
careful  thought,  he  is  fully  armed.  The  man  who 
has  sent  his  servant  called  Thought  into  the  new 
fields  he  wishes  to  occupy  has  time  and  opportunity 

136 


.PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

to  prepare   for  their  requirements  and  so  goes  to 
them  as  their  master  and  not  as  their  slave. 

My  appeal,  then,  to  all  who  read  these  words  is, 
think!  think!  think!  Do  you  wish  to  become  wiser? 
think!  Would  you  be  stronger?  think!  Would 
you  become  a  better  Christian?  think!  Think  not 
alone  on  the  problems  of  daily  life:  think  on  the 
deep  things  of  God  and  the  measureless  possibilities 
of  the  human  soul.  Think  not  only  of  man's  need; 
think  more  of  God's  abundant  provision.  All  life 
will  grow  sweeter  and  richer. 

II.  The  work  of  the  pioneer  would  be  of  little 
value  if  it  were  not  followed  at  once  by  the  settler. 
New  thought  must  be  re-thought  many  times  before 
it  shall  attain  its  maximum  value.  The  first  thought 
is  the  rough  proof  of  the  manuscript  which  must  be 
gone  over  and  corrected — perhaps  supplanted  en- 
tirely— before  the  article  is  ready  for  the  press. 

But  without  the  first  thought  there  will  be  no 
second  thought,  hence  thought  must  ever  precede 
meditation.  Thought  brings  advancement  in  rela- 
tive position;  meditation  brings  solidity  and  cer- 
tainty. If  to  think  at  all  is  valuable,  to  think  much 
is  priceless. 

Meditation  is  a  council  called  to  consider  weighty 
problems.  All  the  powers  of  the  mind  are  sum- 
moned:    Conception,  Alemory,  Imagination. 

Conception  lays  hold  upon  and  makes  to  the 
council  a  plain  statement  of  the  case.    Memory  then 

137 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

speaks  out  and  introduces  expert  testimony  as  to 
what  has  been  the  experiences  of  the  past  with  rela- 
tion to  the  problem  in  hand.  Imagination  lays  a 
number  of  alternative  possibilities  before  the  mind, 
some  of  which  must  be  at  once  guarded  against  and 
some  must  be  striven  for  until  at  last,  when  the  coun- 
cil adjourns,  the  mind  has  the  problem  in  all  its 
phases  well  in  hand. 

Meditation  is  a  meeting  of  the  Cabinet.  The 
Secretary  of  War  suggests  fighting  the  matter  out. 
The  Secretary  of  the  Interior  urges  peace.  The 
Secretary  of  Agriculture  suggests  that  a  few  experi- 
ments be  made.  The  Secretary  of  State  urges  arbi- 
tration. The  President  puts  all  these  suggestions 
in  his  mind  and  weighs  them — for  he  is  a  fair  man 
and  wishes  to  do  that  which  is  right — and  after 
many  days  he  issues  a  proclamation  full  of  wisdom 
and  welcomed  by  all  concerned. 

Meditation  is  a  consultation  of  physicians.  Dr. 
Conception  gives  his  diagnosis  of  the  case.  Dr. 
Memory,  who  knows  the  patient  well,  recalls  similar 
attacks  in  the  past  and  the  remedies  used  for  his 
restoration.  Dr.  Imagination  suggests  awful  possi- 
bilities if  help  is  not  secured  at  once  and  dares  to 
speak  of  the  probable  effect  of  certain  drugs.  The 
patient  has  the  benefit  of  the  experience  and  pre- 
scriptions of  all  these  experts. 

Meditation  takes  the  facts  that  have  been  brought 
before  the  mind  by  all  her  faculties,  thought,  con- 
ception, imagination,  memory,  and  makes  them  meet 

138 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

each  other  in  friendly  combat.  Each  contribution 
will  have  its  full  value.  Thought  is  cast  in  over 
against  imagination;  memory  challenges  the  new 
conception  and  makes  her  prove  her  right  to  a  place. 
Back  and  forth  the  conflict  wages,  each  contribu- 
tion being  challenged  in  turn  by  every  other  until 
that  which  has  a  right  to  stay  emerges  a  victor  and 
all  else  is  driven  from  the  mental  arena. 

Meditation  is  a  process  of  selection.  The  mind 
is  a  lover  of  flowers  going  into  a  wonderful  garden. 
There  are  blossoms  of  every  hue  and  some  exhale 
the  fragrance  of  violets  and  the  essence  of  roses. 
What  would  the  gardener  do  to-day,  charm  a  child 
or  thrill  a  maid  or  calm  a  mother?  Having  deter- 
mined upon  his  purpose  and  weighed  the  contribut- 
ing value  of  every  petal  the  selection  is  made  that 
perfectly  meets  the  call. 

Meditation  makes  a  wise  man;  It  makes  a  man 
sure  of  his  ground  to  the  point  of  defending  it  and 
dying  for  it  if  necessary.  Both  are  badly  needed, 
but  from  myriad  evidences  there  is  greater  neglect 
of  meditation  than  of  thought  In  the  modern  world. 
It  Is  evidenced  by  the  number  of  wrecks  one  sees 
upon  the  shores  of  time.  Theirs  are  the  bleaching 
bones  of  pioneers.  They  had  just  enough  thought 
to  start  them  out,  but  not  enough  to  count  the  cost 
or  consider  the  consequences  or  to  be  able  to  bear  up 
when  trials  came.  Men  sometimes  see  more  by 
looking  Into  a  well  than  by  looking  into  the  sky. 
The  bent  head  of  the  man  wrapt  in  meditation  is 

139 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

one  of  the  permanent  improvements  to  any  city. 
More  than  its  paved  streets,  its  playing  fountains, 
its  marble  temples,  do  these  men  give  a  city  wealth. 
One  head  bent  for  an  hour  in  earnest  meditation  has 
many  times  in  past  years  done  more  for  the  advance- 
ment of  the  race  than  armies  of  men  and  years  of 
time. 

The  thoughtless  man  looking  into  a  laboratory, 
seeing  the  master  in  his  chair,  his  head  buried  in  his 
hands,  asks  gruffly  why  is  this  man  not  at  work  earn- 
his  share  of  bread  and  meat.  He  is  not  less  than  a 
society  parasite.  In  a  moment  some  Edison  raises 
his  head,  takes  pencil  and  paper  and  draws  a  diagram 
showing  how  streets  and  homes  may  be  turned  from 
darkness  into  day  by  the  .use  of  electricity. 

Let  us  frankly  confess  that  to  active  thought  and 
earnest  meditation  we  are  indebted  for  the  thousand 
conveniences  and  blessings  of  present-day  life.  'T 
will  think  about  it"  honestly  said  and  faithfully  fol- 
lowed is  one  of  man's  most  valuable  utterances.  It 
often  supplies  the  lack  of  family  inheritance  or  rich 
dowry.  It  lifts  a  man  from  an  object  of  charity  to 
independence  and  plenty. 

Be  admonished  therefore  to  turn  the  rectifying 
power  of  careful  meditation  upon  all  the  activities 
of  your  life :  your  efforts  to  advance,  your  loves, 
your  hates,  your  jealousies,  your  refusals  to  help 
upbuild  righteousness,  your  efforts  to  help  mankind. 
They  will  all  be  vastly  benefited.     You  will  leave 

140 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE. 

them  all  richer,  more  true,  more  in  harmony  with 
perfection  than  they  have  ever  been  before. 

Thought  and  Meditation.  Two  trusty,  ready 
servants.  It  costs  you  nothing  but  time  to  use  them ; 
they  may  provide  you  both  fortune  and  everlasting 
life.     'Think  on  these  things." 

Think  on  the  deeper  problems  of  life  and  of  the 
hereafter.  The  squirrel  and  the  ant  and  the  bee 
make  provision  against  the  need  of  an  oncoming 
winter.  Will  the  child  of  God  show  less  wisdom 
than  these  humble  creatures  ?  We  know  the  time  of 
need  is  coming;  that  life  on  earth  will  not  go  on 
forever,  and  w^e  are  very  sure  that  in  some  very 
definite  way  the  life  we  are  living  here  is  to  effect 
the  life  Ave  are  to  live  hereafter.  How  can  we 
prepare?    *Think  on  these  things." 

Think — not  to  make  yourself  sad,  but  to  make 
yourself  wise;  to  lead  you  to  make  such  prepara- 
tion against  the  future  as  shall  insure  the  soul 
eternal  felicity.  The  life  that  once  gets  the  true 
conception  of  Christianity  and  its. possible  returns 
to  the  soul  will  go  on  as  far  as  the  mind  will  carry 
it  toward  the  infinite  God  and  then,  in  the  light  of 
sure  revelation,  will  take  the  short  leap  of  faith  that 
will  land  him  on  the  threshold  of  the  Father's  house. 
Let  us  obey  the  apostle's  injunction  and  earnestly 
and  devoutly  *'think  on  these  things." 


141 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 


Chapter  Ten 

PROGRESS  IN  CHRISTIAN  CULTURE: 

BY  PERSEVERANCE,   EXPERIENCE, 

CAUTION,  HOPE 

Every  man  has  a  well-defined  aversion  to  being 
last  in  the  race.  This  aversion  to  being  behind 
urges  men  to  effort  no  less  than  the  hope  for  success. 
But  in  spite  of  all,  the  class  called  Mediocre  is 
crowded  while  the  class  called  Great  is  begging  con- 
tinually for  acquisitions.  It  is  due  not  so  much  to 
the  impossibility  of  many  of  the  middle  class  taking 
a  place  in  the  higher,  but  because  they  have  paused 
in  the  midst  of  their  efforts  and  given  up  the 
struggle. 

*'Men  begin  life,"  says  Dr.  Hillis  in  "Aspiratons 
and  Ideals,"  "with  the  high  purpose  of  living  nobly, 
generously,  openly.  Full  of  the  choicest  aspirations, 
hungering  for  the  highest  things,  the  youth  enters 
triumphantly  upon  the  pathway  of  life.  But  jour- 
neying forward  he  meets  conflict  and  strife,  envy 
and  jealousy,  disappointment  and  defeat.  He  finds 
it  hard  to  live  up  to  the  level  of  his  best  moods. 
Self-interest  biases  his  judgment.  Greed  bribes  his 
reason.    Pride  leads  him  astray.     Selfishness  tempts 

142 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

him  to  violate  his  liner  self.  Persuading  himself  that 
the  ideal  life  is  impracticable,  he  strikes  an  average 
between  his  higher  moods  and  his  low  flying  hours. 
Then  is  the  luster  of  life  all  dimmed."  Instead 
of  going  on  and  winning  a  golden  crown,  he  pauses 
and  accepts  instead  a  crown  of  reeds. 

Responsibility  for  success  rests  to-day,  as  never 
before,  on  the  individual  life.  All  the  world  loves  a 
struggler.  To  wan  such  a  character  and  such  a  place 
in  the  church  as  that  held  by  Sheldon  Jackson,  let 
us  say,  means  that  all  the  helpful  elements  that  go 
to  make  up  life  have  been  called  into  service  and 
persistently  and  carefully  used  through  a  long  period 
of  years  The  day  came  when  the  humble  home 
missionary  w^as  called  to  the  highest  ofBce  in  the  gift 
of  his  denomination.  He  did  not  seek  it,  but  his 
associates  thrust  the  honor  upon  him  as  a  partial 
recognition  of  what  he  had  done  for  his  Master  and 
his  church.  Doing  these  things  for  others  he  won 
a  signal  success  for  himself. 

Paul's  admonition  is  always  timely,  "So  run ;  that 
ye  may  attain."  Many  run  part  way  in  the  race 
and  stop.  They  never  wan  the  laurel.  Others  run 
all  the  way,  but  poorly.  All  run,  but  one  wdns.  So 
run  that  ye  may  win. 

On  the  cinder  path  of  life  the  element  that  con- 
tributes a  lion's  share  to  victory  is  perseverance.  An 
observer  stood  one  day  at  the  dock  of  the  Pennsyl- 
vania Coal  Company  in  Chicago.  A  huge  lake 
steamer  had  rete^itly  been  moored  by  its  side.     In 

143 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

the  hold  of  the  ship  rested  twenty-nine  hundred  tons 
of  hard  coal.  This  must  be  transferred  to  the  bins 
above.  It  seemed  an  endless  and  well-nigh  impos- 
sible task  to  the  inexperienced  onlooker.  But  as  the 
beholder  stood  there,  from  three  different  points 
there  shot  down  into  the  mysterious  depths  of  that 
ship  curious  shaped  buckets,  and  as  they  came 
again  swiftly  from  the  vessel's  hold,  each  one  carried 
half  a  ton  of  her  cargo.  Quietly,  constantly,  unceas- 
ingly those  little  buckets  sped  back  and  forth  on  their 
work,  each  trip  adding  to  the  coal  in  the  bin,  each 
trip  taking  from  that  in  the  boat. 

It  was  the  principle  of  perseverance  worked  out 
in  practical  life.  To  the  man  or  woman  who  desires 
success  no  principle  is  more  important.  Milton, 
fired  with  the  desire  to  write  a  great  poem  the  world 
would  not  soon  forget,  but  realizing  his  unfitness  for 
the  task,  w^ent  to  his  books  and  for  seven  long  years 
toiled,  adding  little  by  little,  day  by  day,  the  learning 
tliat  would  give  him  power,  and  then  not  until  an 
eventful  life  had  been  lived,  until  blindness  had 
driven  his  thoughts  in  upon  himself  and  upward 
toward  God,  did  the  now  ripe  and  ready  scholar 
begin  his  noble  work.  Fifty  years  of  hidden,  quiet 
work  of  preparation,  but  it  yielded  a  pyramid  of 
worth,  an  eternity  of  fame! 

Let  us  lay  down  the  principle,  then,  that  while 
success  is  possible  to  every  one  of  us,  it  is  possible 
to  no  one  who  neglects  months  and  years  of  perse- 
vering work  both  of  preparation  and  accomplish- 

144 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

ment.  The  best  advice  to  youth  is :  hold  only  the 
loftiest  aspirations  and  the  highest  ideals.  These 
alone  are  worthy  the  choice  of  God-made  men. 
Better  start  to  build  a  palace  and  produce  a  villa 
than  to  look  no  higher  than  a  villa  and  end  by  build- 
ing a  hovel.  You  will  never  go  beyond  your  aspira- 
tions. They  mark  the  utmost  limit  of  your  advance. 
Therefore  set  them  high.  The  artist  who  aspires  to 
equal  a  certain  master  must  ever  remain  second  to 
him,  for  the  master's  name  was  first  upon  men's  lips. 
It  is  only  he  who  determines  to  go  beyond  what 
other  men  have  accomplished  that  stands  out  a 
marked  character  among  men. 

Having  once  determined  what  you  will  accom- 
plish, with  God's  approval,  work  as  you  never  yet 
have  dreamed  you  could  work  to  reach  your  ideal. 
Work  not  for  the  approval  of  men,  but  for  the 
approval  of  your  own  soul.  AVork  during  the  golden 
hours  of  the  morning,  when  each  new  day  has  arisen 
refreshed  from  the  embrace  of  night;  w^ork  when 
the  dayspring  has  reached  his  zenith  and,  pouring 
down  his  beams  of  light  and  life,  endeavors  to 
bring  more  life  and  wealth  into  the  world;  work 
in  the  cool  of  the  evening  when  the  burning  eye  of 
Titan  has  been  closed  by  earth's  swift  turning;  work 
in  the  quiet  hours  of  the  night  when,  undisturbed, 
you  may  commune  with  the  best  source  of  thought 
and  experience.  The  familiar  saying  of  the  poet  is 
ever  new : 


145 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

Heights  by  great  men  gained  and  kept 
Were  not  attained  by  sudden  flight; 

But  they,  while  their  companions  slept, 
Were  toiling  upward  in  the  night. 

You  know  well  what  you  ought  to  do,  what  you 
wish  to  attain.  Never  stop  trying  to  win  all  you 
aspire  toward,  especially  in  those  things  that  bear 
on  character  and  achievement  in  behalf  of  others. 
Oftentimes  the  very  fact  that  one  keeps  on  working 
even  against  opposition  and  is  ready  to  take  full 
advantage  of  every  chance  benefit  is  the  largest 
factor  in  success.  The  fable  of  the  hare  and  the 
snail  is  not  to  be  despised,  for  it  carries  in  its  heart 
an  immortal  truth. 

Perseverance  in  preparation  is  the  first  rule  in 
progress.  Fortune  smiles  only  upon  those  who  have 
smiled  upon  her.  Only  the  man  who  is  prepared  for 
it  is  called  to  take  the  high  position,  to  assume  the 
larger  responsibility.  Restricted  by  no  caste  and 
with  the  wealth  of  all  the  ages  as  an  inheritance, 
each  youth  and  maiden  of  America  may  go  on  and 
up  until  the  highest  and  best  has  been  attained. 

Valuable  and  necessary  as  is  the  element  called 
Perseverance,  let  no  one  think  that  it  alone  will 
yield  the  fruits  desired.  It  must  be  upheld  and 
aided  by  many  friends.  No  matter  how  vigorously 
the  blind  man  might  walk,  if  he  had  not  some  one 
to  guide  him  past  obstruction  and  excavation  he 
would  never  reach  the  distant  goal.  Even  so  must 
Perseverance  walk  in  the  light  shed  by  Experience. 

146 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

From  behind  like  a  great  sun  doth  experience  shed 
her  rays  upon  the  true  man's  pathway,  and  if  he  be 
wise  it  will  be  of  a  twofold  power. 

The  first  will  be  lent  by  the  experience  of  others, 
which,  upon  solicitation  they  have  given  or  by  obser- 
vation has  been  discovered.  It  is  a  strong  arm  on 
w^hich  the  wise  man  wall  lean  during  his  journey 
through  life.  Oftentimes  the  youth  fails  to  make 
use  of  the  most  valuable  part  of  his  inheritance  by 
rejecting  the  counsel  of  a  parent  that  is  based  upon 
long  years  of  experience.  One's  reverence  for  silver 
heads  should  become  greater  every  day.  AA^hat 
years  they  have  spent!  What  obstacles  have  been 
overcome!  What  victories  have  been  won!  We 
need  to  know  of  them.  From  every  life  one  touches, 
be  it  humble  or  great,  he  can  gain  somewhat  that 
will  help  hiin  in  his  struggle  toward  success. 

Upon  every  struggling  youth,  therefore,  one  urges 
the  value  of  the  experience  of  others.  If  your 
father  has  learned  by  a  life  of  experience  that  perse- 
verance is  necessary  to  success,  you  can  start  where 
he  leaves  off  and  your  chances  for  success  become 
one  hundred  per  cent  higher  than  his.  If  past 
ages  have  taught  men  that  honesty,  both  in  business 
and  in  social  relations,  is  necessary,  base  your  life 
upon  this  wholesome  principle.  Never  strike  out 
in  defiance  of  what  all  men  have  proved  to  be  an 
unchanging  law.  It  is  hard  to  row  against  a  rapid 
current,  but  with  it  distance  is  quickly  annihilated. 

147 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

My  son,  hear  the  instruction  of  thy  father, 
And  forsake  not  the  law  of  thy  mother: 
For  they  shall  be  a  chaplet  of  grace  unto  thy  head, 
And  chains  about  thy  neck.     Prov.  i  :  8,  9, 

The  second  light  shed  upon  the  wise  man's  path 
by  experience  will  be  that  of  his  own.  Not  less 
valuable  than  the  wisdoni  others  have  gained  is  that 
Ave  gain  ourselves.  The  burned  child  shuns  the  fire, 
but  all  too  often  the  youth  punished  by  the  blighting 
nature  of  vice  flies  into  it  again  as  cjuickly  as  re- 
lieved from  its  first  effects,  only  to  be  more  severely 
rebuked.  A  visitor  to  one  of  the  large  industries 
of  America,  a  few  months  ago,  talked  with  the 
superintendent  of  the  iron  department.  At  one  of 
the  forges  worked  a  man  of  middle  age  who  gave 
evidence  at  a  glance  that  he  Avas  an  expert.  In 
response  to  the  visitor's  questioning  eyes,  the  super- 
intendent replied  :  "He  need  not  be  there.  That  man 
was  at  the  head  of  the  iron  department  in  the  con- 
struction of  buildings  at  the  World's  Fair.  He  is  a 
genius  in  his  line."  *'Then  why  is  he  there?" 
''Whisky"  was  the  terse  reply.  'Tt  will  kill  the 
best  of  them." 

How  amazing  it  is  that  so  many  lives  go  on  doing 
the  things  their  own  experience  has  told  them  are 
destructive  of  their  own  best  interests  and  that  will 
positively  prevent  them  from  ever  winning  a  notable 
victory !  How  many  are  going  on  in  a  futile  effort 
to  overthrow  laws  that  have  been  in  operation  since 
the  world  began ! 

148 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

With  open  and  attentive  gaze,  therefore,  review 
the  past.  Note  every  lesson  that  has  been  learned 
and  bring  its  fruits  to  your  service  in  your  present 
struggle.  It  may  be  the  one  thing  needed  to  yield 
you  victory.  If  it  is  the  part  of  wisdom  to  move 
forward,  it  is  no  less  the  part  of  wisdom  to  go  in 
the  strength  that  past  years  have  given  you.  Better 
a  foot  along  a  safe  path  than  a  mile  along  one  that 
may  land  you  in  failure.  Call,  then,  upon  the  past 
and  in  her  pure  light  pursue  your  way.  New  views 
will  open  before  you,  new  conquests  appear  for 
heart  and  brain.  Plant  your  feet  firmly  upon  the 
path  others  and  yourself  have  proved  safe.  You 
may  then  move  forward  with  confidence. 

"If  you  wish  success,"  says  one,  ''make  Caution 
your  elder  brother."  Caution  is  the  ballast  in  the 
hold  of  life'^s  ship.  It  is  the  shield  we  carry  even 
when  no  arrows  are  seen  to  be  flying.  Caution  is 
the  coat  of  mail  unseen  by  the  world  yet  protecting 
its  wearer  from  attack  of  blade  or  missile.  It  is  the 
element,  undefined  by  yourself,  that  leads  you  when 
possible  to  make  your  journeys  by  land  instead  of 
by  sea,  or  if  by  sea  to  take  the  vessels  known  to  be 
the  safest  and  best. 

To  the  youth  on  the  road  toward  success  it  is  an 
invaluable  aid.  Dangers  and  temptations  infest  the 
path  of  youth  as  reptiles  the  jungle,  and  it  is  only 
by  the  exercise  of  extreme  caution  that  he  is  enabled 
to  escape  unharmed.  Even  the  briefest  delay  cuts 
off  from  the  amount  to  be  achieved  and  the  moments 

149 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

your  achievement  may  be  enjoyed,  while  the  great 
clanger  is  that,  having  once  touched  the  life,  they 
will  stop  all  progress  and  success  will  never  be 
attained. 

The  words  of  the  mill  superintendent  ring  in 
one's  ears,  'Tt  will  kill  the  best  of  them."  There- 
fore let  the  compass  called  Caution  be  aboard  every 
craft  and  may  it  be  consulted  every  day  during 
your  journey  through  life.  The  mariner  who  would 
disregard  his  compass  would  expect  loss  or  wreck 
and  would  be  condemned  by  the  world.  No  less  will 
the  youth  who  disregards  life's  compass,  who 
neglects  to  post  Caution  at  the  wheel,  suffer  loss  and 
shipwreck  whether  in  the  things  of  the  body  or  in 
the  things  of  the  soul. 

But  above  the  compass  there  is  a  star  toward 
which  its  needle  points.  To  the  mariner  it  is  the 
star  of  the  North.  To  the  sailor  on  life's  sea  it  is 
the  star  of  hope. 

A  sailor  of  small  experience  once  found  himself 
on  a  yard  arm  being  rapidly  raised  to  great  heights 
among  the  vessel's  rigging.  His  eyes  riveted  upon 
the  ship  and  the  waters  below,  his  head  began  to 
swim  and  he  gave  evidence  of  losing  his  hold.  See- 
ing his  dangerous  state  and  knowing  at  once  the 
reason,  the  captain  shouted,  ''Look  aloft,  my  lad, 
look  aloft !"  Raising  his  eyes  from  the  fast  reced- 
ing decks  and  scenes  that  changed,  his  eyes  rested 
upon  the  calm,  unchanging  heavens  and  immediately 

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PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

all  looked  natural  and  the  dizziness  gave  place  to 
calm  assurance. 

In  our  journey  toward  what  we  please  to  call  life- 
success  there  must  be  a  permanent,  unchanging 
element  toward  which  we  can  cast  our  eyes  in 
moments  of  defeat  and  distress,  and  in  all  the 
world  there  is  not  a  better  than  that  which  the 
Father  has  provided  and  which  men  call  Hope. 
Hope  never  faileth,  but  as  the  changeless  hills  re- 
mains one  solid  point  on  which  our  eyes  may  rest. 

As  a  strong  raft  will  fulsome  hope  bear  up  when 
life's  storms  break  upon  you.  In  the  distress  born 
of  the  possibility  of  death  in  a  watery  grave,  pas- 
sengers on  a  storm-driven  vessel  often  cast  over- 
board everything  that  they  have  hitherto  held  dear : 
goods,  wealth,  family  heirlooms,  everything  that 
adds  an  ounce  to  the  burden  of  the  stricken  vessel. 
When  times  of  defeat  and  distress  come  upon  you 
and  you  are  led  to  cast  away  things  hitherto  held 
dear  never  let  hope  go.  She  is  no  burden,  but 
rather  a  buoy  to  your  floundering  ship  of  life.  Cherish 
her  as  you  do  your  own  life  and  she  will  reward 
you  a  hundredfold.  Obey  the  confident  Psalmist 
in  the  words  he  spoke  to  his  own  fainting  heart: 

Why  art  thou  cast  down,  O  my  soul? 
And  why  art  thou   disquieted   within  me? 
Hope  thou  in  God;   for  I  shall  yet  praise  him 
For  the  help  of  his  countenance. 

Toward  what  goal  may  the  right-living  man  or 
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PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

woman  strive  to  make  progress?  Shall  it  be  for 
success  in  material  fortune?  It  has  many  dangers 
and  few  chances  of  ever  being  won.  Shall  it  be  for 
earthly  fame?  You  will  be  led  to  do  men  some 
service  in  gaining  it  and  this  is  good,  but  the  enter- 
prise is  full  of  danger  to  your  own  soul.  Shall  it  be 
toward  self-gratification?  It  is  an  ignoble  end  and 
unworthy  a  man  of  strength. 

There  is  a  success  above  all  these  and  yet  it  in- 
cludes every  element  of  worth  found  in  all  of  them: 
Being  a  successful  man  in  the  sight  of  God.  Strive 
now  for  riches,  strive  now  for  culture,  strive  now 
for  fame,  strive  now  to  enrich  yourself,  but  use  all 
to  add  glory  to  God  and  lighten  the  burdens  of  men. 
Successful  in  his  sight  let  all  the  unworthy  stand- 
ards of  self-seeking  men  be  despised  and,  moving 
onward  and  upward,  approach  the  divine  ideal  given 
us  in  the  earthly  life  of  our  Saviour,  Redeemer  and 
untiring  Friend — Jesus  Christ. 


1^2 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 


Chapter  Eleven 

PROGRESS  IN  CHRISTIAN  CULTURE: 
BY   RESISTING  TEMPTATION 

In  the  opening  verses  of  the  general  Epistle  of 
James  there  is  this  strange  and  startling  admonition, 
''Count  it  all  joy,  my  brethren,  when  ye  fall  into 
manifold  temptations."  Nothing  could  be  further 
from  other  New  Testament  teaching  concerning  this 
danger,  which  we  are  admonished  to  avoid  and  to 
pray  that  we  may  escape.  Reading  further,  in  the 
hope  of  catching  some  explanation  of  the  unusual 
advice,  we  find ;  "Knowing  that  the  proving  of 
your  faith  worketh  patience.  And  let  patience  have 
its  perfect  work,  that  ye  may  be  perfect  and  entire, 
lacking  in  nothing." 

We  catch  the  secret  in  this  further  reading.  James 
does  not  diverge  so  far  from  the  spirit  of  New  Tes- 
tament teachings  as  at  first  appears.  He  is  writing 
to  Christians  who  are  widely  scattered  among  hostile 
people.  Undoubtedly  he  has  heard  of  persecutions; 
of  temptations  to  abandon  the  new  faith  and  return 
to  idolatry  or  to  fly  into  a  rage  and  revenge  them- 
selves upon  their  persecutors.  Neither  would  be 
Christlike.      In  an  effort  to   cheer  and  encourage 

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PROGRESS    IN   CHRISTIAN   CULTURE 

them,  the  apostle  urges  them  to  turn  these  tempt- 
ings  into  generators  of  more  power  and  faith.  "If 
you  are  tempted  and  endure,"  he  says,  *'you  have 
reason  to  rejoice  in  the  temptation,  for  it  not  only 
gave  you  an  opportunity  to  display  your  faith  but 
it  also  gave  you  the  struggle  that  develops  more 
faith.  It  develops  patience  also,  and  when  this  has 
reached  perfection  you  will  be  an  acceptable  follower 
of  Jesus,  wanting  nothing." 

From  this  somewhat  restricted  treatment  of  temp- 
tation I  should  like  to  move  out  to  a  broader  treat- 
ment w^hich  will  include  temptation  to  personal  sins 
as  well  as  to  forsake  one's  religion  and  turn  again 
to  paganism.  In  this  broader  sense  temptation  is 
universal.  From  the  first  transgression  in  Eden 
down  to  the  latest  infraction  of  God's  laws  both 
men  and  women  have  been  wont  to  say,  ''The  ser- 
pent beguiled  me,  and  I  did  eat."  The  apostle  James 
insists  that  we  shall  not  charge  the  temptation  upon 
God.  "Let  no  man  say  when  he  is  tempted,  I  am 
tempted  of  God ;  for  God  cannot  be  tempted  with  evil, 
and  he  himself  tempteth  no  man."  God  may  leave 
people  to  the  temptations  of  Satan  once  in  a  while 
that  they  may  be  tested,  proved,  to  discover  whether 
they  are  strong  enough  to  resist  Satan's  appeals  and 
are  worthy  of  the  confidence  of  Jehovah,  but  God 
is  never  the  author  of  the  temptation  itself  nor  does 
he  cooperate  with  Satan  in  bringing  it  about.  Satan 
is  always  watching,  hoping  to  catch  some  Christian 
w^hen  he  is  weak  and  draw  him  into  his  net. 

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PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

Fully  half  of  our  temptations  come  from  the  out- 
side. Here  the  tempter  works  through  other  people. 
Some  unscrupulous  companion  who  wants  our  time 
or  our  money  or  our  strength  tempts  us  to  deviate 
from  the  path  of  rectitude  and  eat,  drink  or  act  in 
a  way  to  debase  our  manhood. 

A  few  years  ago  I  was  visiting  the  Brooklyn 
Navy  Yard  when  one  of  our  splendid  men-of-war 
came  home  from  a  long  cruise.  The  sailors  had 
several  months'  pay  in  their  pockets,  and  already 
abnormal  appetites  were  crying  out  to  be  satisfied. 
As  the  boys  poured  out  of  the  yard  they  were  met 
by  a  company  of  ''cappers,"  almost  as  large,  that 
literally  laid  hold  upon  them  and  pulled  and  dragged 
them  into  saloons  and  disreputable  houses  that  lined 
the  street.  They  were  promised  all  they  wanted  for 
nothing,  but  I  was  told  by  Y.  M.  C.  A.  workers 
near  by  that  few  of  them  would  have  a  cent  in  their 
pockets  when  they  at  length  emerged.  Sometimes 
the  debauch  lasted  for  days,  until  body  and  soul 
were  smirched  and  the  poor  boys  were  literally 
kicked  into  the  street  because  they  had  no  more 
money.  The  generous  gifts  of  Helen  Gould  have 
helped  conditions  there  somewhat,  but  our  govern- 
ment would  honor  herself  if  she  would  provide  pro- 
tection for  the  soldiers  and  sailors  everywhere  from 
these  harpies  that  would  suck  their  very  life's  blood. 

Our  temptations  will  not  perhaps  be  so  severe  nor 
to  such  flagrant  sins,  but  they  are  none  the  less  real 
and  insistent.     Modern  society  invites  both  young 

155 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

men  and  women  to  drink  and  smoke  and  gamble 
and  to  make  many  other  infractions  of  the  law  of 
rectitude  that,  however  simple  they  are  in  the  begin- 
ning, often  lead  to  weakness  and  disgrace.  Older 
men  and  women  are  tempted  to  adopt  questionable 
business  methods  or  to  countenance  social  practices 
that  both  weaken  and  degrade  if  they  do  not  at  last 
bring  them  into  disgrace. 

In  addition  to  these  fierce  temptations  from  with- 
out there  are  temptations  from  within  that  are  quite 
as  severe.  Here  Satan  works  through  our  normal 
appetites  and  desires.  Many  a  youth  who  would 
scorn  to  yield  to  such  outside  temptations  as  I  have 
just  referred  to  falls  an  easy  victim  to  temptations 
from  within  his  own  life  to  which  he  thinks  he  can 
yield  and  the  world  will  never  know  it.  These  will 
include  both  thoughts  and  actions  and  their  injury 
to  the  moral  nature  is  as  great  as  that  of  open  sins. 

Neither  are  these  inner  temptations  from  God. 
The  apostle  whose  teaching  we  are  following  in  this 
study  says  further :  ''Each  man  is  tempted,  when 
he  is  drawn  away  by  his  own  lust,  and  enticed. 
Then  the  lust,  when  it  hath  conceived,  beareth  sin : 
and  the  sin,  when  it  is  full-grown,  bringeth  forth 
death." 

In  an  able  exposition  of  this  passage  the  Rev.  C. 
Jerdan  says : 

Lust  may  be  said  to  "conceive"  when  it  obtains  the  consent 
of  the  will  or  disarms  its  opposition.  The  man  who  dallies 
with    temptation,    instead    of    meeting    it    with    instant    and 

15S 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

prayerful  resistance,  will  be  sure  eventually  to  succumb  to  it. 
From  the  guilty  union  of  lust  with  the  will  a  living  sin  is 
born.  The  embryo  corruption  becomes  developed  into  a  deed 
of  positive  transgression.  And  this  is  not  all.  Sin,  the 
progeny  of  lust,  itself  grows  up  from  the  infancy  of  mere 
choice  to  the  adult  life  of  settled  habit,  and  "when  it  is  full- 
grown  it  in  turn  becomes,  as  the  result  of  union  with  the 
will,  the  mother  of  death.  It  was  so  with  the  sin  of  our  first 
parents  in  Paradise.  It  was  so  with  the  sin  of  Achan.  He 
saw,  coveted,  took  and  died.  It  is  so  with  the  sin  of  licentious- 
ness, which  has  suggested  the  figure  of  this  passage;  the 
physical  corruption  which  the  practice  of  sensuality  entails 
is  just  a  sacrament  of  spiritual  death.  Death  is  the  fruit  of 
all  sin.  Sin  kills  peace ;  it  kills  hope ;  it  kills  usefulness ;  it 
kills  the  conscience;  it  kills  the  soul.  The  harlot-house  of 
lust  and  sin  becomes  the  vestibule  of  perdition  As  Milton 
has  it  in  a  well-know^n  passage  of  "Paradise  Lost" — a  passage 
suggested  by  this  very  verse — Sin  is : 

"The  snaky  sorceress  that  sat 
Fast  by  hell-gate,  and  kept  the  fatal  key"; 
while   Death,   her  son,   is  "the  grizzly  Terror"   on  the  other 
side,  which  stood 

"Fierce  as  ten  furies,  terrible  as  hell." 

In  an  agony  of  despair  we  are  disposed  to  cry  out 
with  Paul,  ''Wretched  man  that  I  am!  who  shall 
deliver  me  out  of  the  body  of  this  death?"  But 
wait  a  moment.  Severe  as  these  temptations  are 
man  does  not  have  to  yield  to  them.  In  his  first 
letter  to  the  Corinthians  Paul  says,  "There  hath  no 
temptation  taken  you  but  such  as  man  can  bear : 
but  God  is  faithful,  who  will  not  suffer  you  to  be 
tempted  above  that  ye  are  able;  but  will  with  the 

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PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

temptation  make  also  the  way  of  escape,  that  ye 
may  be  able  to  endure  it." 

You  could  have  withstood  any  temptation  that 
ever  came  upon  you,  even  the  most  severe,  if  you 
had  wanted  to.  Aided  by  God,  man's  will  is  sover- 
eign and  nothing  takes  place  in  the  life  to  which 
the  will  does  hot  first  give  its  consent.  While  God 
does  not  prevent  Satan  from  tempting  you  he  does 
make  a  way  of  escape  if  you  want  it.  Indeed,  you 
can  turn  your  temptations  into  sources  of  power  if 
you  will.  This  is  the  contentionof  the  apostle  James. 
Since  temptations  are  sure  to  come  into  our  lives 
we  had  best  try  to  discover  his  secret. 

Temptations  to  impurity  may  be  so  met  as  to 
make  the  tempted  one  more  pure  and  more  sure  of 
remaining  pure.  The  life  that  has  never  been  tried 
may  be  innocent,  but  it  has  not  developed  strength 
and  therefore  is  in  danger  of  being  overcome  and 
crushed.  Many  a  young  woman  has  gone  from  the 
security  of  a  country  home  into  a  great  city  assum- 
ing that  everyone  was  as  pure  as  herself,  only  to 
find  herself  ensnared  by  lustful  tempters  who  preyed 
upon  her  innocence.  She  was  pure,  but  she  was  not 
strong.  She  accepted  false  promises  or  gave  her 
love  to  a  traitor  and  her  life  was  soon  crushed  in 
the  awful  stress. 

Or  take  the  more  striking  case  of  the  temptations 
of  our  Lord.  He  was  in  all  points  tempted  like  as 
we  are.  Why?  We  may  get  some  light  on  the 
question  by  studying  God's  treatment  of  Israel  in 

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PROGRESS    IN   CHRISTIAN   CULTURE 

the  day  of  their  removal  to  the  promised  land.  He 
had  a  great  work  for  Israel  to  do.  He  wished  them 
to  be  a  receptacle  for  future  revelations ;  he  wanted 
to  prove  to  surrounding  nations  that  man  could 
withstand  temptations  to  lewdness  and  idolatry  and 
live  on  the  high  plain  of  purity  and  truth.  He  had 
protected  them  before  while  they  were  in  bondage. 
Now  that  they  were  to  be  an  independent  nation, 
standing  for  Jehovah,  they  must  develop  power  of 
their  own.  Therefore  we  are  told  in  the  book  of 
Judges  that  instead  of  driving  out  all  the  idolatrous 
tribes  from  the  promised  land  he  allowed  some  of 
them  to  remain,  not  that  his  people  might  be  weak- 
ened but  that  they  might  make  themselves  more 
strong  by  resisting  temptations.  Jehovah  said, 
"I  also  will  not  henceforth  drive  out  any  from 
before  thern  of  the  nations  that  Joshua  left  when 
he  died;  that  by  them  I  may  prove  Israel,  whether 
they  will  keep  the  way  of  Jehovah  to  walk  therein, 
as  their  fathers  did  keep  it,  or  not." 

When  Cromwell  was  in  a  tight  place  in  battle  he 
wanted  near  him  his  Ironsides ;  when  Napoleon  was 
in  danger  he  wanted  to  have  near  him  the  Old 
Guard.  Other  soldiers  weighed  as  much  and  were 
as  fully  equipped  with  weapons,  but  these  old 
heroes  were  battle  tested.  No  danger  could  daunt 
them ;  no  startling  situation  cause  them  to  turn  and 
flee.  They  could  be  trusted.  Therefore  they  were 
valuable. 

The  manhood  of  Jesus  was  very  high,  but  it  might 
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PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

have  fallen.  Did  he  have  the  strength  and  courage 
to  go  through  the  awful  temptations  to  desert  his 
Father  and  save  his  own  life  that  were  to  come 
upon  him?  No  one  knew.  It  could  only  be  proved 
by  trying  him,  and  so  he  was  given  over  to  Satan  for 
a  season. 

First  he  was  tempted  to  use  his  divine  power  to 
meet  his  own  physical  needs,  ''Command  that  these 
stones  become  bread."  If  he  had  yielded  here 
he  might  have  used  his  divine  power  and  saved  him- 
self from  death  on  the  cross,  thus  nullifying  the 
whole  plan  of  redemption.  Next  he  was  tempted  to 
attract  attention  and  win  public  acclaim  by  bizarre 
methods  :  ''Cast  thyself  down  from  this  wing  of  the 
temple  into  the  well-filled  court  below.  Thousands 
will  see  it  and  at  once  concede  that  you  must  be  the 
Son  of  God.  This  will  simply  be  a  short  cut  to 
what  you  hope  to  gain  by  a  long  and  circuitous 
route."  It  was  a  more  reasonable  temptation  since 
"the  king's  business  requires  haste,"  but  had  Jesus 
yielded  he  would  have  failed  in  his  mission,  for  it 
required  every  day  of  the  three  years  he  labored  to 
prove  by  example  that  a  man  can  live  the  prin- 
ciples he  taught.  Failing  in  these  two  temptations, 
Satan  made  a  more  direct  attack.  "Forsake  God 
entirely.  Worship  me ;  join  your  powers  with  mine 
and  I  will  give  you  all  the  kingdoms  of  the  world." 
This  was  the  fiercest  temptation  of  all  and  the  most 
necessary  from  the  standpoint  of  God.  If  in  his 
human  nature  Jesus  was  ever  going  to  turn  away 

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PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

from  God  the  sooner  he  did  it  the  better.     Before 
his  work  could  proceed  God  must  know. 

Therefore  the  temptations  of  Jesus  were  a  great 
blessing.  He  went  into  them  an  untried  youth; 
he  came  out  of  them  a  battle-proved,  triumphant 
veteran,  ready  now  to  pursue  the  greatest  work  ever 
undertaken  by  any  man.  He  had  denied  the  flesh 
and  crucified  his  desires,  but  he  had  proved  the  truth 
of  the  contention  later  uttered  by  Tennyson : 

That   men   may  rise   on   stepping-stones 
Of  their  dead  selves  to  higher  things. 

In  the  city  of  Chicago  a  few  years  ago  a  banking 
firm  was  testing  a  young  man  of  great  promise. 
He  was  quick  and  keen  and  seemed  to  have  a  natural 
talent  for  the  banking  business.  They  wanted  to 
advance  him  to  higher  positions,  but  he  was  almost 
a  stranger  and  some  of  the  ofiicers  had  grave  doubts 
of  his  honesty. 

He  was  paying  teller  at  the  time  and  worked  in  a 
steel  cage  all  alone,  but  for  one  hour  every  day  the 
cashier  took  his  place  while  he  went  out  to  luncheon. 
During  one  of  these  absences  the  cashier  slipped  a 
ten-dollar  gold  piece  into  his  cash.  It  was  one 
method  of  testing  him.  If  he  reported  an  over  that 
night,  well  and  good.  If  he  said  nothing  they  would 
know^  he  had  pocketed  the  extra  coin. 

As  closing  time  came  those  in  the  secret  were 
nervous.  He  worked  like  lightning,  and  was  always 
ready  with  his  balance  long  before  all  other  depart- 

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PROGRESS    IN   CHRISTIAN   CULTURE 

ments.  But  this  evening  there  was  a  delay.  The 
cashier  saw  that  he  was  slowly  and  carefully  going 
over  the  day's  business  a  second  time.  Then  he 
checked  it  over  a  third  time.  Passing  his  cage  the 
cashier  called  out  casually,  ''Anything  wrong,  Mr. 
Young?"  ''Everything  checks  perfectly,"  he  said 
in  a  worried  tone,  "but  I'm  ten  dollars  over  in  my 
cash."  Not  a  word  was  said,  but  the  officers  put 
that  down  to  his  credit  as  an  honest  man. 

Not  long  after  this  they  subjected  him  to  another 
test.  A  plain-clothes  detective  presented  a  check  for 
seventy-five  dollars  at  his  window  and  asked  for 
the  cash.  It  was  signed  by  a  firm  that  had  a  large 
balance  at  the  bank  and  that  issued  many  checks  of 
similar  amount.  Everything  looked  all  right  but, 
while  the  man  who  presented  it  claimed  acquaint- 
ance, the  teller  did  not  know  him.  When  payment 
was  refused,  the  detective  came  close  and  said 
quietly:  "Of  course  you  have  to  be  careful,  Boss, 
but  that  check  is  absolutely  good.  I  travel  for  this 
firm  and  am  on  my  way  to  take  a  train  that  leaves 
in  thirty  minutes.  I  must  have  some  cash.  Give 
me  seventy  dollars  and  keep  five  dollars  for  your- 
self." It  looked  like  easy  money,  but  the  teller  re- 
fused ;  the  customer  would  have  to  be  identified. 

Temptations  gave  this  young  man  the  chance  both 
to  develop  resistance  and  to  prove  himself  to  others. 
He  was  soon  promoted  to  the  cashiership  while  the 
cashier  went  on  to  the  presidency. 

From  these  various  examples  and  experiences  it 
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PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

may  be  seen  that  temptation  may  be  an  allurement 
to  entice  us  to  sin.  It  is  thus  we  usually  conceive 
of  it.  But  it  may  be  a  test  to  prove  us  or  a  discipline 
to  improve  and  strengthen  us.  Assuming  that  the 
Christian  is  going  to  take  the  right  attitude  toward 
temptation,  the  apostle  we  are  following  therefore 
cries  out:  "Count  it  all  joy,  my  brethren,  when  ye 
fall  into  manifold  temptations.  They  will  give  you 
a  chance  to  prove  the  strength  of  your  faith;  they 
will  give  you  a  chance  to  strengthen  yourself,  for 
every  victory  won  makes  the  warrior  stronger.  Use 
your  temptations  as  opportunities  to  glorify  God  by 
revealing  to  the  world  the  strength  of  his  followers." 

If  anyone  should  still  ask  the  question,  ''Why 
does  God  permit  temptation?"  the  answer  could  be 
given  in  the  words  of  James,  'That  ye  may  be 
perfect  and'entire^  lacking  in  nothing."  And  again, 
"Blessed  is  the  man  that  endureth  temptation;  for 
when  he  hath  been  approved,  he  shall  receive  the 
crown  of  life."  God  longs  for  a  strong  and  sufficient 
manhood.  It  is  not  easy  to  develop  a  character  that 
will  honor  God  in  life  and  win  eternal  happiness  at 
the  bar  of  heavenly  judgment. 

Two  boys  started  life  together  in  a  western  vil- 
lage. Each  inherited  a  modest  fortune  and  entered 
upon  life  with  the  brightest  prospects.  The  lure  of 
the  world  sounded  in  the  ear  of  each.  An  oppor- 
tunity to  invest  their  money  in  an  enterprise  of  ques- 
tionable character  but  large  returns  came  to  both. 

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PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

They  could  work  together.      They  would  be   rich 
enough  to  retire  in  ten  years. 

The  younger  man  urged  his  friend  to  invest.  He 
argued  that  the  business,  while  questioned  by  a 
certain  portion  of  society,  was  recognized  by  law ; 
that  somebody  would  carry  it  on,  and  why  not  they? 
They  would  be  careful  to  avoid  its  degrading  and 
debasing  associations  and,  as  soon  as  they  could 
do  so  with  a  competence,  would  sell  out  and  come 
back  home.  But  the  older  youth  hesitated.  The  temp- 
tation was  strong,  but  there  was  a  latent  sense  of 
decency  in  him  that  made  him  hold  back.  Forced 
''You  may  think  this  is  prudish  in  me  but  I  cannot 
by  his  friend  to  show  his  hand,  he  said  at  length: 
bring  myself  to  get  rich  at  the  cost  of  other  men's 
welfare.  It  would  be  fine  to  have  plenty  of  money 
but  I  want  something  else,  worse.  I  want  to  be 
able  to  respect  myself  and  I  want  the  respect  of 
other  men." 

As  he  expected,  his  friend  laughed  at  him.  He 
reminded  him  that  the  respect  of  other  men  paid 
no  bills  and  that  it  was  foolish  to  allow  a  tender 
conscience  to  interfere  with  a  good  business  oppor- 
tunity. But  if  he  was  fixed  in  his  determination 
they  would  have  to  separate.  He  was  going  in,  and 
he  would  soon  show  his  friend  how  foolish  he  had 
been.  They  parted  in  sorrow  and  the  older  youth 
went  back  to  his  land. 

Eifteen  years  rolled  by  before  the  two  men  met 
again.      The   avaricious   youth   had   made   his    for- 

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PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

tune.  The  man  with  a  conscience  had  enough  and 
to  spare.  The  brewer  was  fat,  blear-eyed  and 
dull-witted.  The  farmer  was  lithe,  clear-eyed  and 
keen.  The  brewer  loathed  himself.  His  wife  and 
children  had  left  him  and  his  only  companions  were 
hired  servants  or  sycophants  who  flattered  him  for 
favors.  The  farmer  honored  himself,  had  wife  and 
children  who  loved  and  respected  him  and  beyond 
these  a  host  of  friends  who  rose  up  to  call  him 
blessed. 

After  half  an  hour's  visit  and  the  revealing  of  the 
main  facts  of  each  man's  life  the  brewer  laid  his 
hand  on  the  older  man's  shoulder  and  said :  '^i"^? 
you  win.  You  were  the  wise  man.  I  was  the  fool. 
I  have  made  money, — more  than  w^e  talked  of, — 
but  I  have  lost  everything  else.  I  would  gladly 
sink  all  my  money  to  the  bottom  of  the  sea  if  I 
could  buy  back  my  self-respect,  my  family  and  my 
health.  But  it  is  too  late.  I  deliberately  chose  the 
wrong  path.     Now  I  must  walk  in  it  to  the  end." 

The  temptation  to  this  path  was  not  greater  to 
one  than  to  the  other.  Both  knew^  its  danger.  Both 
knew  they  should  not  enter  it.  The  man  who  re- 
fused the  lure  was  stronger  from  that  day  than  he 
would  ever  have  been  without  it.  His  friend  was 
W'eaker  and  slighter  temptations  overcame  him.  He 
went  from  weakness  to  weakness  while  his  wnse 
friend  went  from  strength  to  strength. 

Force  your  temptations  to  serve  you.  Use  them 
as  stepping-stones  to  mount  to  higher  things.     If 

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PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

this  world  is  ever  saved  it  will  be  by  the  power  of 
God  working  through  strong  Christians,  tested 
Christians,  proved  Christians,  whom  all  the  flattery 
and  lure  of  the  world  cannot  w^in  from  the  straight 
and  narrow  path. 

The  crow^n  of  life  is  the  reward  of  wisdom  in  this 
realm.  ''Blessed  is  the  man  that  endureth  tempta- 
tion; for  when  he  hath  been  approved,  he  shall 
receive  the  crown  of  life."  This  promised  boon 
looks  not  alone  to  the  future.  To  the  man  who  suc- 
cessfully resists  temptation  is  given  the  crown  of 
the  highest  life  in  this  world.  He  is  crowned  as  a 
man  w^orthy  of  honor  by  God  himself ;  he  is  crowned 
by  his  own  exacting  conscience;  he  is  crowned  by 
his  fellow  men. 

In  increasing  strength,  in  perfect  self-control,  in 
growing  favor  with  God  and  man,  the  Christian 
who  bravely  resists  temptation  literally  forces  the 
hindrances  of  life  to  serve  him,  lifting  him  year  by 
year  a  little  closer  to  his  God.  May  the  day  soon 
come  when  every  Christian  shall  be  in  this  blessed 
company. 


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PROGRESS   IN   CHRISTIAN   CULTURE 


Chapter  Twelve 

PROGRESS  IN  CHRISTIAN  CULTURE: 
BY  PROPER  SABBATH   OBSERVANCE 

At  no  time  in  the  world's  history  were  men  so 
conscious  of  the  value  of  the  passing  hours  as  they 
are  to-day.  Every  day  is  a  treasure  house  stored 
with  golden  hours;  every  hour  a  jewel  case  filled 
with  precious  gems.  An  hour's  study  or  reflection 
often  turns  the  tide  in  a  man's  fortune;  a  day's 
labor  turns  failure  into  victory.  Most  of  the  world's 
decisive  battles  were  fought  in  a  single  day.  The 
power  of  Spain  in  the  Western  Hemisphere,  which 
had  continued  for  hundreds  of  years,  was  termi- 
nated in  a  few  hours  at  Santiago  Bay. 

Emerson  was  but  trying  to  emphasize  the  im- 
portance of  time  when  he  said,  "Every  day  is 
doomsday,"  but  I  prefer  another  sentiment  which 
has  grown  up  since  the  age  of  this  thinker-dreamer, 
"Every  day  is  New  Year's  Day."  Every  day  opens 
a  new  period  of  time  in  which  a  life  may  strive 
to  correct  its  mistakes  and  advance  its  higher 
interests. 

Oh,  that  we  would  prize  every  day  as  Browning's 
Pippa  did  her  one  holiday!  Springing  from  her 
couch  and  rushing  to  her  tiny  window  she  cried  in 
ecstasy : 

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PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

Day! 

Faster  and  more  fast, 

O'er  night's  brim,  day  boils  at  last; 

Boils,  pure  gold,  o'er  the  cloud-cup's  brim 

Where  spurting  and  suppressed  it  lay, 

For  not  a    froth-flake  touched  the  rim 

Of  yonder  gap  in  the  solid  gray 

Of  the  eastern  cloud,   an  hour  away; 

But  forth  one  wavelet,  then  another,  curled. 

Till  the   whole  sunrise,   not  to  be   suppressed. 

Rose,   reddened,   and  its   seething  breast 

Flickered  in  bounds,  grew  gold,  then  overflowed  the  world. 

O  Day,  if  I  squander  a  wavelet  of  thee, 
A  mite  of  my  twelve-hours'  treasure, 
The   least   of   thy   gazes   or   glances, 
(Be  they  grants  thou   art  bound   to  or  gifts   above 

measure), 
One  of  thy  choices  or  one  of   ihy  chances, 
(Be  they  tasks   God   imposed   thee   or    freaks   at   thy 

pleasure), 
— My  Day,   if  I   squander  such  labor  or  leisure, 
Then  shame   fall  on  Asolo,  mischief  on  me! 

In  this  study  I  would  talk  with  you  about  a  day 
much  more  precious  and  full  of  possibilities  than 
any  of  these — the  Sabbath  of  the  Lord  thy  God. 
The  body  and  the  mind  have  six  days  set  apart  when 
their  work  and  play  should  be  accomplished.  They 
are  important  to  the  last  degree.  The  world's  work 
must  be  done,  the  secrets  of  nature  must  be  dis- 
covered: "Six  days  shalt  thou  labor  and  do  all  thy 
work." 

"But  the  seventh  day  is  the  Sabbath  (Hebrew, 
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PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

"Rest")  of  the  Lord  thy  God:  in  it  thou  shalt  not 
do  any  work."  That  commandment  has  never  been 
recalled,  but  following  his  custom  of  telling  us  what 
we  could  do  instead  of  what  we  should  not  do  our 
Lord,  by  word  and  by  example,  taught  that  the 
Sabbath  is  the  soul's  day,  on  which,  turning  aside 
from  our  usual  pleasures  and  labors,  we  are  to  wor- 
ship and  do  good  to  men. 

The  glory  of  Christ's  teaching  concerning  this 
precious  time  is  contained  in  his  phrase,  "The 
sabbath  was  made  for  man."  If  the  day  was  made 
for  him  and  is  not  to  be  used  for  ordinary  w^ork  or 
play,  what  was  it  made  for  ?  What  was  it  meant  to 
supply?  It  is  to  his  everlasting  shame  that  man, 
who  needs  so  much  soul  culture,  should  have  failed 
to  use  the  day  set  apart  for  this  very  thing,  but 
should  have  spent  the  time  in  other  and  less  benefit- 
ing labors.  If  I  should  ask  a  man  to  take  fifty-two 
days  every  year  out  of  the  time  he  gives  to  building 
up  his  fortune  and  use  them  in  chasing  butterflies 
he  would  think  me  crazy ;  and  yet  many  a  man  takes 
the  only  fifty-two  days  a  year  God  has  given  for 
the  building  up  of  his  spiritual  fortune  and  spends 
them  in  chasing  golf  balls  or  other  equally  elusive 
missiles  while  his  soul  starves  for  the  bread  of  life. 

It  is  not  a  question  just  now  of  whether  it  is 
right  for  you  to  play  golf  or  take  automobile  rides 
or  study  birds  or  botany  on  the  Sabbath ;  the  ques- 
tion is :  Do  you  spend  your  Sabbath  at  these  pas- 
times to  the  exclusion  of  that  soul  culture  positively 

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PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

needed  to  make  you  a  worthy  child  of  your  heavenly 
Father?  The  permanence  and  continued  elevation 
of  the  American  people  depend  very  largely  upon 
their  proper  observance  of  the  Sabbath  day. 

We  must  not  allow  the  day  to  become  secularized. 
"Remember  the  Sabbath  day,  to  keep  it  holy."  Our 
six  days  of  labor  bind  us  close  to  material  things. 
We  till  the  soil,  or  we  barter  or  we  adjudicate  dif- 
ferences, in  all  of  which  our  animal  nature  is  upper- 
most. Yet  these  things  must  not  be  allowed  to 
dominate  us.  How  is  this  to  be  avoided  ?  By  giving 
the  greatest  emphasis  to  our  spiritual  nature  on  the 
Sabbath  day.  Other  time  might  be  used  but  seldom 
is,  so  that  the  soul  must  gather  up  in  one  day  suffi- 
cient heavenly  grace  to  make  us  more  than  animals 
during  our  six  days  of  labor.  If  we  fail  to  use  the 
Sabbath  for  worship  and  soul  culture,  if  we  continue 
our  usual  work  or  play  throughout  the  sacred 
period,  we  have  lost  the  spiritual  uplift  w^e  need 
more  than  any  other  thing. 

Some  surprising  things  have  developed  in  connec- 
tion with  closing  the  post  office  in  many  cities  of 
America  on  the  Sabbath.  Before  this  was  accom- 
plished and  the  thousands  of  letter  carriers  thus 
released,  it  was  said  that  it  could  not  be  afforded; 
that  so  many  more  employees  would  have  to  be 
hired  that  the  already  large  postal  deficit  would  be 
enormous.  Exactly  the  contrary  has  proved  true. 
The  men  are  able  to  give  so  much  better  service 
working   six    days    than    working   seven,    that    the 

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PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

service  Is  more  efficient  and  the  deficit  less.  It  was 
said  that  business  could  not  be  carried  on  without 
Sabbath  mail  delivery,  but  not  one  house  has  failed 
on  account  of  the  change  and,  as  a  matter  of  fact, 
it  has  not  created  a  ripple  on  the  surface  of  our 
commercial  and  industrial  life.  Few  firms  now  call 
for  their  mail  at  all  on  the  Sabbath  and  those  which 
do  are  not  in  a  business  that  demands  a  seven-day 
delivery. 

Instead  of  robbing  this  precious  day  of  its  peculiar 
nature  America  will  be  wise  if  she  does  everything 
in  her  power  to  preserve  it.  America  does  not  need 
more  money  or  more  material  success,  but  she  is 
tremendously  in  need  of  more  men  and  women  who 
know  God  and  are  striving  to  cooperate  with  him 
in  the  elevation  of  society.  Nothing  will  help  more 
than  keepings  the  Sabbath  a  holy  day  and  observing 
it  in  accordance  with  its  nature. 

Further,  the  day  must  be  used  more  and  more 
for  the  specific  purposes  for  which  it  was  given. 
There  should  be  no  uncertainty  on  this  point.  Under 
divine  direction  the  people  of  God  in  ancient  times 
used  the  day  for  worship  and  godly  service.  The 
teachings  of  Christ  confirm  this  practice  and  em- 
phasize its  spiritual  significance. 

If,  for  purposes  of  clearness,  we  should  specify 
a  few  of  these  duties  and  privileges  we  would  doubt- 
less all  name  first :  The  worship  of  God  in  the  sanc- 
tuary and  the  enrichment  of  our  spiritual  nature. 

God  himself  established  public  worship  when  he 
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PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

was  giving  the  world  models  through  ancient  Israel. 
The  people  were  not  to  neglect  the  assembling  of 
themselves  together  both  for  giving  united  voice  to 
their  worship  of  Jehovah  and  for  listening  to  his 
revealed  Word  read  and  expounded. 

Can  reasonable  men  argue  that  there  is  no  call  for 
public  assemblies,  that  men  can  worship  God  as 
acceptably  as  individuals,  when  the  plans  of  God 
so  clearly  provide  for  public  assemblies  and  for  the 
preaching  of  the  Word?  The  apostle  has  declared 
that  by  the  foolishness  of  preaching  God  has  or- 
dained that  many  men  shall  be  saved. 

American  history  reveals  several  things  that  bear 
upon  this  point :  Where  public  services  are  not 
maintained  and  regular  preaching  is  not  provided 
there  are  few,  if  any,  conversions  to  Christianity; 
where  public  worship  has  been  maintained  in  former 
years  and  is  now  suspended  (as  for  example  in 
frontier  territory  or  in  down-town  districts  of  great 
cities),  although  the  population  is  more  dense,  no 
conversions  are  discoverable  and  the  standard  of 
manhood  and  womanhood  falls  lower;  the  masses 
of  the  people  never  rise  to  a  more  exalted  concep- 
tion of  God  without  adequate  leadership,  without 
hearing  the  Word  of  God  preached  and  explained 
from  week  to  week.  Only  where  the  public  wor- 
ship of  God  is  regularly  maintained  do  the  people 
eliminate  sin  and  take  on  the  Christian  graces. 
''Man's  chief  end  is  to  glorify  God,  and  to  enjoy 

172 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

him  for  ever,"  and  where  men  do  not  do  this  they 
sink  rather  than  rise  in  the  scale  of  manhood. 

Furthermore,  man's  spiritual  nature  is  in  con- 
stant need  of  extension  and  enrichment.  This  is  the 
nature  by  which  we  comprehend  the  things  of  God ; 
it  is  here  we  are  in  his  image.  When  by  acceptance 
and  confession  of  Jesus  Christ  our  spiritual  nature 
is  born,  we  are  infants  just  as  we  were  infants  at 
our  physical  birth.  We  are  creatures  of  infinite 
spiritual  possibilities,  but  those  possibilities  will 
never  be  realized  if  we  do  not  grow.  For  a  man, 
confessing  Christ,  to  feel  that  there  is  nothing  more 
for  him  to  do  is  to  make  the  mistake  of  contending 
that  to  possess  the  size  and  strength  of  manhood  it 
is  only  necessary  to  be  born  in  the  flesh. 

I  have  a  boyhood  memory  of  going  one  Inde- 
pendence Daj  to  a  great  celebration ;  at  least  it  w-as 
great  in  crowds  and  enthusiasm  and  noise,  which 
have  come  to  stand  for  greatness  to  certain  classes 
in  America.  I  was  fascinated  by  a  gas  machine 
W'hich  was  being  set  up  for  the  inflating  of  toy 
balloons.  I  had  seen  the  beautiful  blue  and  red 
baubles  tugging  at  their  restraining  strings,  eager  to 
be  off  into  the  vast  empyrean,  and  I  rejoiced  in 
their  brilliancy  and  buoyancy,  but  when  I  drew  near 
I  was  amazed  to  find  that  when  started  on  their 
career  they  were  neither  large  nor  brilliant  but  re- 
pulsive little  masses  of  wrinkled  rubber  no  larger 
than  my  thumb.  Surely  those  little,  black,  crumpled 
masses  could  never  become  the  large,  beautiful  bal- 

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PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

loons  that  were  aspiring  to  join  the  clouds!  But 
the  skilled  workman  stretched  the  mouth  of  one 
over  the  machine's  valve  and  shot  it  full  of  the 
volatile  gas.  Instantly  it  expanded,  instantly  its 
rich  color  appeared.  The  moment  it  was  released 
from  the  machine,  sealed  and  its  string  attached,  it 
started  to  mount  upward,  beautiful  as  a  rainbow  to 
a  child's  eyes. 

My  figure  may  not  be  absolutely  analogous,  but 
it  is  close  enough  for  illustrative  purposes.  When 
we  are  born  into  the  kingdom  our  spiritual  nature, 
the  most  beautiful  and  the  most  permanent  part  of 
man,  is  a  mere  capacity.  It  is  capable  of  infinite 
enlargement  and  enrichment  but  only  one  thing  will 
do  it.  Worldly  pleasures  will  not,  material  successes 
will  not,  even  intellectual  achievements  will  not,  but 
the  proper  worship  of  God  will.  The  proper  ob- 
servance of  the  Sabbath  day,  a  proper  part  in  the 
public  worship  of  God,  a  proper  study  of  God's 
Word  and  right  meditation  on  sacred  things,  kindly 
service  in  the  name  of  Christ;  these  things  will 
expand  and  enrich  the  spiritual  nature,  as  the  gas 
did  my  toy  balloon  of  long  ago,  and  will  give  it  an 
aspiration  to  ascend  to  God. 

Every  wise  man  knows  that  for  the  purposes  of 
proper  living  his  fast  depleting  body  must  be  con- 
tinually recreated.  God  provided  for  this  recreation 
in  appointing  this  one-day-in-seven  rest  period.  ''Six 
days  shalt  thou  labor,  and  do  all  thy  work :  but  the 
seventh  day  is  the  sabbath,  the  rest  day,  of  the  Lord 

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PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

thy  God :  in  it  thou  shalt  not  do  any  work.  Thou 
nor  thy  servants." 

It  is  not  the  sin  of  disobeying  God  by  disregard- 
ing this  commandment  that  I  wish  to  dwell  upon 
here.  It  may  be  said  in  passing :  America  will  pay 
heavily  in  future  years  for  her  willingness  to  allow 
the  Sabbath  to  become  a  day  of  picnics  and  excur- 
sions, of  feasting  and  social  excesses.  The  increas- 
ingly popular  'Sveek-end"  excursion  is  fast  becom- 
ing a  curse.  Instead  of  proper  rest  and  worship 
thousands  of  our  people  further  exhaust  themselves 
by  long  distance  travel  and  irregular  eating  and 
sleeping.  One  superintendent  of  a  manufacturing 
plant  testifies  that  it  requires  the  better  part  of 
Monday  for  his  men  to  recover  from  the  excesses 
of  the  Sabbath  vacation;  but  what  I  would  em- 
phasize is  the  loss  the  disobedient  one  himself  sus- 
tains and  the  benefits  that  come  with  obedience. 

The  loss  comes  from  prolonged  strain  without 
release.  If  we  are  not  wnse  enough  to  see  this  in 
the  physical,  world,  the  mechanical  world  wall  fur- 
nish sufficient  illustration.  A  railroad  company 
that  sometimes  seems  to  have  no  mercy  on  its  men 
is  exceedingly  careful  of  its  expensive  locomotives. 
Visiting  a  roundhouse  in  the  West  a  few  years 
ago  I  saw  a  dozen  huge  monsters  that  had  recently 
come  in  from  trips  of  from  three  hundred  to  seven 
hundred  miles.  I  asked  the  foreman  why  they  were 
there,  and  he  replied  that  they  were  resting.  In 
response  to  my  surprised  look  he  continued :   ''Yes, 

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PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

indeed,  these  engines  require  rest  as  surely  as  the 
engineers  do.  After  a  long,  hard  trip  it  often  takes 
from  twenty-four  to  forty-eight  hours  for  an  engine 
to  recover  itself.  Starting  out  afresh  one  of  these 
one-hundred-ton  freight  engines  will  run  perfectly 
for  from  five  hundred  to  a  thousand  miles.  Then 
things  will  begin  to  go  wrong;  either  something 
breaks  or  they  refuse  to  make  steam  and  we  have 
to  send  them  to  the  roundhouse.  After  a  'rest  day' 
they  are  as  good  as  ever  again."  Many  a  man  who 
says  he  cannot  afford  a  Sabbath's  rest  is  making 
slow  progress  to-day  or  is  actually  breaking  down 
for  want  of  the  wisdom  a  railroad  company  displays 
in  getting  the  highest  efficiency  out  of  its  machinery. 
But  here  as  elsewhere  the  best  side  is  affirmative. 
Many  a  business  and  professional  man  has  quad- 
rupled his  efficiency  by  beginning  to  observe  strictly 
the  spirit  of  rest  and  change  of  occupation  suggested 
by  the  Christian  Sabbath ;  who  says,  in  the  spirit  of 
the  ancient  singer, 

"Return  unto  thy  rest,  O  my  soul, 
For  Jehovah   hath   dealt  bountifully   with   thee." 

It  requires  actual  practice  to  demonstrate  the  truth 
of  this  contention. 

The  story  is  told  of  a  certain  lawyer  in  the  West 
who  in  his  early  years  felt  that  he  could  not  afford 
to  take  a  Sabbath  rest.  Released  from  office  and 
courtroom,  he  would  pore  over  his  books.  He 
wished  to  specialize  in  Insurance  Law  and  felt  that 

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PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

he  had  only  Sunday  in  which  to  do  the  reading  and 
thinking  required.  When  Monday  came  there  was 
no  spring  or  freshness  in  his  mind  or  body  and  he 
went  into  court  a  w^orn-out  man.  He  began  to  lose 
cases  of  a  class  he  had  formerly  won,  and  now  and 
then  had  attacks  of  indigestion  that  compelled  him 
to  give  up  his  work  for  days  at  a  time.  Finally  he 
determined  to  try  God's  plan.  He  opened  no  law 
book  on  the  Sabbath  day.  '  He  returned  to  the  house 
of  God  from  which  he  had  absented  himself  for 
years  ;  he  took  the  super intendency  of  the  local  Sun- 
day school.  In  the  afternoons  he  would  visit  the 
sick  or  go  with  his  children  for  a  cjuiet  walk  in  the 
woods.  No  thought  of  court  or  law  was  enter- 
tained for  one  moment.  In  two  months  he  was  a 
changed  man.  He  regained  his  health  and,  incident- 
ally, the  respect  of  his  own  conscience.  His  mind 
cleared  and'  his  body  regained  its  spring.  His 
former  skill  in  court  returned  and  quickly  doubled. 
To  a  friend  one  day  he  said :  "When  I  started  out 
to  practice  law  I  thought  I  knew  better  than  God 
did  how  to  employ  my  time,  but  I  have  concluded 
now  that  he  knows  best.  I  keep  the  Sabbath,  and 
from  a  purely  health  and  financial  standpoint, — 
to  say  nothing  of  its  spiritual  benefits, — it  is  the 
best  investment  I  ever  made." 

I  wonder  if  others  are  not  m^aking  this  lawyer's 
mistake.  You  want  to  get  on,  you  w-ant  to  make 
money  faster,  you  w'ant  to  specialize,  to  be  a  master 
in  your  line,  and  you  think  you  can  accomplish  this 

177 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

by  robbing  God  and  your  soul  of  the  Sabbath  day, 
by  defrauding  body  and  mind  of  the  rest  and  change 
provided  by  the  Creator  in  his  infinite  plans.  It  is  a 
serious  and  a  costly  mistake  which  you  had  better 
correct  as  quickly  as  possible.  Both  body  and  mind 
will  have  ten  times  their  spring  for  one  complete 
rest  day  in  seven  while  the  soul,  the  seat  of  wisdom 
and  spirituality,  will  be  given  its  rightful  place. 

The  Sabbath  rest  provides  excellent  opportunity 
also  for  the  sharpening  and  enrichment  of  the 
mental  faculties.  All  week  long  the  mind  must 
serve  us  whatever  our  work  may  be.  In  many 
cases  its  only  refreshment  is  a  hasty  glance  at  a 
daily  newspaper  that  tells  of  the  sports  and  the 
tragedies  of  life.  Perhaps  the  mind  has  been  called 
upon  to  give  out  the  whole  week  through,  and  has 
received  little  or  nothing  in  return. 

A  right  observance  of  the  Sabbath  provides  a 
change  from  all  of  this.  In  the  house  of  our  Father 
one  hears  the  eternal  verities  read  from  the  Word 
of  God.  No  minister  can  be  so  dull  as  to  have  no 
message  for  receptive  minds,  and  the  vast  majority 
of  these  worthy  men  provide  a  feast  for  their  people 
every  Sabbath  of  the  year.  The  mind  grows  rich 
also  by  trying  to  give  away  a  knowledge  of  the  Bible 
to  younger  lives.  Teaching  is  always  accompanied 
by  a  reflex  benefit  to  the  teacher.  Workers  in 
Sunday  school  often  attain  high  mental  proficiency 
solely  from  their  efforts  to  plant  the  Word  of  God 
in  other  hearts. 

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PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

But  the  greatest  opportunity  of  all  comes  when 
the  long  afternoon  and  evening  open  and  your  time 
is  largely  your  own.  The  mind  seeking  riches  will 
turn  to  those  immortal  books  that  contain  the  lives 
of  master  spirits  writ  in  their  owai  blood.  This  is  not 
the  time  for  magazines  and  the  ''Sunday  Supple- 
ment" that  usually  so  profanes  the  day.  It  is  time 
for  a  reverent  study  of  the  Word  of  God.  It  is 
time  for  the  biographies  of  great  souls,  for  a  fuller 
acquaintance  with  church  history,  for  a  dwelling 
with  those  Christian  poets  whose  songs  have  done 
so  much  in  determining  the  character  of  modern 
Christendom.  Would  you  be  a  master  of  Brown- 
ing? Give  the  Sabbath  afternoons  or  evenings  of  a 
single  winter  to  a  study  of  his  Christian  poems  and 
you  will  know  more  of  him  than  the  graduates  of 
half  the  Brow^ning  Clubs  of  America.  It  requires 
slow,  thoughtful  study  to  master  Browning.  His 
meaning  is  clear  enough  if  you  will  take  time  to 
think  him  through.  Take  John  Ruskin's  advice  and 
study  him  ''syllable  by  syllable,  nay,  letter  by 
letter,"  and  in  any  company  you  can  rejoice  in  your 
knowledge  of  this  great  poet. 

Christian  biography  is  a  field  almost  untouched 
by  the  great  mass  of  Christians,  and  yet  it  offers 
knowledge  as  well  as  mental  stimulus  and  suggestion 
that  is  unsurpassed.  W^ho  is  responsible  for  the 
Christianization  of  our  ancestors  in  central  Europe? 
What  sacrificing  souls  checked  the  rising  tide  of 
Roman  Catholic  arrogance  and  the  sale  of  indul- 

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PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

gences  for  sin  ?  Who  are  the  students  and  teachers 
who  evolved  the  doctrines  that  stand  at  the  base  of 
the  Protestant  denominations  ?  What  choice  spirits 
broke  the  bonds  of  Christian  selfishness  and  began 
the  missionary  propaganda  of  the  age?  In  the 
average  company  echo  ansvv^ers,  ''Who?"  for,  alas! 
not  one  in  ten  of  our  people  knov^! 

Yet  what  fine  knowledge  that  would  be  to 
possess.  Would  you  not  like  to  know  ?  Your  Sab- 
bath afternoons  of  another  winter  would  give  you 
this  knowledge,  and  you  would  have  all  the  mental 
stimulus  that  arises  from  their  heroism.  By  taking 
advantage  of  the  freedom  from  week-day  cares 
that  a  proper  observance  of  the  Sabbath  day  pro- 
vides, an  earnest  mind  can  pass  from  mediocrity  to 
mastery  in  a  single  decade. 

During  our  Lord's  earthly  ministry  he  was  once 
severely  criticized  for  healing  a  man  with  a  with- 
ered hand  on  the  Sabbath  day.  He  was  amazed  at 
the  criticism  and  reminded  the  Jews  that  in  crisis 
times  in  their  own  history  the  most  acceptable  ser- 
vants of  Jehovah, — those  whom  they  took  as 
models, — broke  over  all  usual  rules  and  did  the 
things  necessary  for  the  preservation  of  their  lives 
and  the  welfare  of  the  kingdom.  "Wherefore,"  said 
he,  "it  is  lawful  to  do  good  on  the  sabbath  day." 

His  action  recalls  the  remark  of  James  that  pure 
religion  and  undefiled  is  not  only  keeping  oneself 
unspotted  from  the  world  but  is  visiting  the  bereaved 

1 80 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

in  their  affliction  and  helping  to  provide  for  their 
needs. 

Within  the  circle  of  each  life  there  will  be  others 
who  need  both  thought  and  care.  One  will  not 
start  out  to  inaugurate  charity  work  on  the  Sabbath, 
but  it  is  surely  within  the  Master's  conception  of 
the  proper  use  of  this  holy  day  for  us  to  comfort 
those  who  mourn  and  cheer  and  relieve  the  needy 
and  the  sick.  'Tt  is  lawful  to  do  good  on  the  sab- 
bath day." 

I  have  left  untouched  in  this  study  the  great 
realm  of  the  command  of  God  concerning  this  day 
and  our  duty  to  perpetuate  its  observance  in  honor 
of  him,  and  many  others  of  the  usual  arguments 
for  Sabbath  observance.  These  all  stand  and  should 
have  their  proper  weight.  So  also  should  the  fact 
that  history  proves  that  the  proper  observance  of 
this  day  as  holy  is  necessary  to  the  perpetuity  of  any 
nation.  I  have  led  you  into  the  realm  of  privilege. 
Let  us  observe  the  Sabbath  not  because  we  must  but 
because  we  may.  Taking  full  advantage  of  its 
benefits  our  progress  in  Christian  culture  will  be 
marked  from  year  to  year. 


i8i 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 


Chapter  Thirteen 

PROGRESS  IN  CHRISTIAN  CULTURE: 
BY  DECISION 

Standing  aside  for  a  moment  to  gaze  upon  the 
passing  throng  on  Hfe's  highway,  one  is  attracted 
at  once  by  the  look  of  firm  decision  on  the  faces 
of  the  foremost.  No  uncertainty  marks  their  gaze. 
If  they  seem  unconscious  of  the  throng  against 
which  they  are  jostHng  it  is  because  their  sight  is 
turned  inward — riveted  upon  a  picture  of  action, 
the  details  of  which  they  are  each  hurrying  to  work 
out.  The  rapid  progress  of  this  throng  fairly 
dazzles  the  beholder.  If  the  explorer  must  drive  a 
line  of  stakes  across  the  bosom  of  a  glacier  to  dis- 
cover in  the  course  of  a  few  hours  or  days  that  it 
has  moved,  the  observer  of  the  great  river  of  human 
life  must  watch  closely  lest,  in  a  moment  of  inatten- 
tion, its  appearance  change  so  greatly  that  when  he 
looks  again  he  be  not  able  to  recognize  his  former 
object  of  study. 

Decision  and  progress  go  hand  in  hand.  They 
are  parts  of  the  same  whole.  The  one  is  never 
found  without  the  other.  If  the  roll  of  thunder 
must  ever  be  preceded  by  a  flash  of  lightning   the 

182 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

rumble  of  progress  must  ever  be  preceded  by  the 
flash  of  decision. 

Man  does  not  make  large  progress  by  the  chance 
of  fortune  or  misfortune.  It  is  only  after  an  un- 
bending decision  has  been  made,  backed  up  by  all  the 
necessary  exercise  of  his  God-given  power,  that  he 
progresses.  Without  the  decision  of  a  general  there 
would  have  been  no  unconditional  surrender  of  San- 
tiago and  the  adjacent  country  in  the  Spanish  war. 
Without  the  decision  of  an  active  brain  and  heart 
there  will  be  no  unconditional  surrender  of  a  citadel 
of  indifference  and  uselessness  in  the  life  of  man. 

The  man  who  decides  he  will  do  a  thing  has 
largely  accomplished  it,  for  it  only  remams  for  him 
to  work  out  details  and  the  victory  is  his.  "Progress 
by  decision"  is  a  theme  worthy  of  careful  study. 

Strangely  enough,  even  in  America,  the  question 
is  sometimes  asked,  what  does  it  mean  to  progress? 
Passing  up  and  down  the  streets  of  our  towns  and 
villages  one  sees  many  men  and  boys  to  whom  this 
phrase  is  absolutely  unintelligible.  By  haphazard 
disposition  of  accumulated  avoirdupois  they  are  able 
to  hold  down  a  goods-box  if  no  one  drives  them 
away  and,  once  there,  they  exercise  their  spongy, 
perverted  minds  in  constructing  insults  upon  passing 
women  and  innocent  children.  Talk  not  to  them  of 
progress.  There  is  no  progress  in  earthly  things 
beyond  the  limit  of  life.  These  men  and  boys  are 
morally,  and  oftentimes  intellectually  and  spiritually, 
dead  already  and  should,  by  some  legal  enactment, 

183 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

be  buried  away  where  their  already  disintegrating 
Hves  would  not  contaminate  those  still  healthy  and 
vigorous. 

But  if,  for  the  purpose  of  our  present  investiga- 
tion, it  be  desirable  to  define  clearly  the  word 
"progress"  we  wall  find  that,  though  a  broad  word 
and  having  such  a  large  part  in  the  history  of  the 
world,  it  is  still  a  w^ord  of  a  single  idea.  That  is 
the  idea  of  going  onward  toward  perfection:  to 
make  improvement,  to  rise,  to  gain,  to  grow,  to 
advance ;  as  we  say,  to  progress  in  civilization  or 
morals.  No  word  is  more  characteristic  of  Ameri- 
can life  than  this.  By  it  we  are  know^i  around 
the  world.  To  progress  is  to  move  from  crude 
forms  to  perfect  figures,  to  pass  from  the  shadows 
into  the  sunlight,  from  uncertainty  to  sail  out  on 
the  calm  ocean  of  the  surely  known.  It  is  to  pass 
from  the  nomad  to  the  civilian,  from  the  wigwam 
to  the  palace,  from  a  dark  and  uncertain  past  to  a 
bright  and  intelligent  present. 

Gazing  on  the  shores  of  the  new  w^orld  in  1492, 
Columbus  saw  only  forest  and  wigwam  and  savage. 
Gazing  on  the  same  shores  four  hundred  years 
later  visitors  to  the  World's  Fair  saw  rich  cities, 
splendid  palaces  and  highly  cultured  men.  During 
this  short  interval  Yankee  decision  and  ingenuity 
had  made  possible  a  progress  incomprehensible  to 
residents  of  the  Orient.  China  of  to-day  differs  not 
greatly  from  the  China  of  ten  centuries  ago,  while 
America,  as  clay  in  the  hands  of  a  skillful  potter, 

184 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

has  been  changed  from  a  rude  mass  into  a  splendid, 
soul-inspiring  statue  in  one  third  this  time. 

To  progress  meant,  to  George  Washington,  to 
pass  from  an  unknown  civil  engii]eer  in  the  wilds 
of  Virginia  to  the  founder  of  the  American  Re- 
public. To  Abraham  Lincoln,  to  progress  meant 
to  move  from  an  obscure  rail-splitter  in  the  heart  of 
Illinois  to  emancipator  and  first  citizen  in  America. 
To  Peter,  to  progress  meant  to  pass  from  a  fisher- 
man on  the  shores  of  Galilee  to  a  member  of  the 
faculty  in  the  university  of  Christianity.  To  David, 
to  progress  meant  to  develop  from  a  ruddy  shep- 
herd boy  to  king  of  Israel.  To  Moses,  it  meant 
to  grow  from  a  child  hidden  in  the  bulrushes  of 
the  Nile  to  one  who  received  the  decalogue  direct 
from  God.  Such  knowledge  seems  too  wonderful 
for  man,  and  yet  as  he  sees  it  worked  out  year  after 
year  in  the 'lives  of  men  he  is  driven  to  realize  its 
truth  and  the  possibility  of  others  making  snnilar 
progress,  but  w^ho,  instead,  are  drifting  wath  the 
tide. 

If  men  do  not  progress  it  is  because  they  do  not 
decide.  Progression  waits  upon  decision  as  the  fast- 
bound  buds  and  bulbs  of  winter  wait  upon  the  slow 
return  of  summer  sun.  Jordan  reminds  us  that  ''the 
world  gladly  steps  aside  to  let  him  pass  w^ho  know^s 
whither  he  is  going,"  w^hile  we  ourselves  are  able  to 
see  that  the  man  of  uncertain  step  is  never  able  to 
cleave  a  passage  through  the  throng.  Large  size, 
deep  voice,  glistening  epaulets  give  not  his  strength 

185 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

to  the  commander,  but  it  is  the  decision  that  has 
been  reached  within.  This  it  is  that  gives  fire  to  his 
eye,  it  is  this  that  gives  strength  to  every  move- 
ment and  instantly  convinces  his  own  army  and  his 
enemy  that  that  'decision  is  to  be  carried  out. 

Against  the  thoughts  of  perhaps  the  majority  of 
men  upon  the  subject  it  should  be  said  that  true 
progress  depends  not  entirely,  or  even  largely,  upon 
present  power,  either  physical  or  mental.  It  is  a 
most  common  thing  for  men  and  women  to  give  as 
an  excuse  for  their  standing  still,  want  of  physical 
strength  or  lack  of  a  well-stored,  w^ell-trained  mind. 
It  is  a  poor  excuse  and  unsatisfactory  to  one  who 
has  studied  even  slightly  the  history  of  the  world's 
progress.  Milton  was  blind,  Byron  was  lame,  Pope 
was  never  entirely  well.  According  to  Bible  his- 
tory Paul  was  constantly  oppressed  by  some  physi- 
cal ailment  and  still  we  see  him  progress  from  the 
brutal  persecutor  Saul  to  the  gentle,  brilliant,  power- 
ful Paul  the  apostle  to  the  Gentiles  and  author  of 
some  of  the  sublimest  literature  the  race  has  thus 
far  produced.  Calvin  was  wretched  physically,  per- 
haps never  enjoying  a  single  day  entirely  free  from 
pain  and  bodily  distress,  but  in  spite  of  it  all  we  see 
emerging  from  that  pain-racked  body  a  system  of 
truth  which  attracted  the  immediate  attention  of  all 
Christendom  and  which  will  leave  its  imprint  for- 
ever upon  man's  theology.  Henry  Drummond  had 
little  bodily  strength,  but  he  did  not  allow  this  to 
stand  in  the  way  of  African  exploration  and  rich 

i86 


PROGRESS    IN   CHRISTIAN   CULTURE 

utterance  of  uplifting  truth.  Robert  Louis  Steven- 
son, although  driven  to  the  islands  of  the  sea  in 
search  of  health,  continued  to  pour  forth  song  and 
story  to  the  delight  of  an  admiring  people. 

Other  things  being  equal,  it  is  clear  to  all  that  the 
man  o-f  health  may  make  more  progress  than  his 
wea]<er  brother,  but  all  the  strength  possible  to 
human  beings  will  avail  nothing  without  the  decision 
of  an  intelligent  will.  The  young  and  vigorous  oak 
has  made  the  decision  to  grow  into  a  giant  of  the 
forest.  There  is  but  on.e  way  to  stop  its  progress; 
that  is  to  kill  it.  If  men  and  women  would  start 
out  with  the  determination  to  accomplish  something 
worthy  the  race  and  the  God  who  gaye  ihem  facul- 
ties or  die  in  the  attempt,  the  race  would  shoot  for- 
ward as  a  locomotive  under  double  steam ;  we  would 
progress  more  in  the  next  fifty  years  than  we  have 
in  the  past  four  hundred. 

Further  than  this,  a  firm  decision  looking  toward 
the  accomplishment  of  some  worthy  service  will 
often  do  more  than  all  possible  medical  attention 
and  costly  drugs  in  restoring  strength  to  a  weak- 
ened body.  A  man  in  the  central  part  of  Illinois, 
an  elder  in  a  Presbyterian  church  for  twenty-five 
years,  whom  I  knew  as  I  know  my  most  intimate 
friends,  furnishes  a  most  striking  illustration  of  this 
truth.  He  had  never  been  well,  being  obliged  when 
twenty  years  of  age  to  begin  to- travel  for  his  health, 
but  he  was  a  man  of  clear-cut  decisions  and  change- 
less determination.  He  had  neither  physical  strength 

187 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

nor  large  mental  training,  but  his  power  of  decision 
was  abnormally  developed.  Very  early  in  life  he 
conceived  an  idea  in  furnace  construction  and  steam 
lieating  that  promised  large  returns,  but  it  had  to  be 
developed  and  placed  upon  the  market,  and  he  had 
neither  strength  nor  means.  In  default  of  these, 
however,  he  had  the  power  of  deciding  and  deter- 
mining. As  a  result  his  furnaces  were  soon  on  the 
market  and  a  company  with  capital  had  put  him  on 
the  road  to  work  up  a  demand  for  their  product. 

Very  early  in  his  experience  on  the  road  he  was  in 
a  railroad  wreck  which  nearly  cost  him  his  life  and 
left  him  a  cripple  for  the  remainder  of  his  days. 
On  one  crutch,  with  frequent  violent  attacks  of  dis- 
ease, he  continued  his  work  both  on  the  road  and 
in  the  working  out  of  other  plans  for  the  progress 
of  his  company.  Their  advance  was  phenomenal. 
Orders  poured  in  upon  them  continually,  neces- 
sitating a  larger  plant  and  more  men.  In  the  midst 
of  this  success  another  railroad  wreck  rendered 
almost  useless  the  one  leg  that  had  assisted  the 
crutch  in  his  locomotion.  But  instead  of  stopping 
at  this  calamity  he  got  another  crutch  and  went  on, 
more  vigorous  than  before.  He  had  now  become  a 
wealthy  man  and  wished  to  see  the  world.  His 
friends  remonstrated  and  suggested  the  impossibility 
of  a  man  in  his  condition  taking  a  trip  to  Europe. 
Meanwhile  he  had  ordered  tickets  and  taken  passage 
on  a  fast  passenger  steamer.  Arriving  in  southern 
Europe  he,  with  his  wife  and  daughter,  toured  the 

i88 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

entire  continent,  reluctantly  leaving  London  after 
every  spot  of  interest  in  the  great  city  had  been  ex- 
plored. I  venture  to  assert  that  tt>  the  day  of  his 
death  he  could  tell  you  more  of  what  is  to  be  seen 
on  a  journey  through  Europe  than  any  man  of 
your  acquaintance  who  has  made  the  trip  but  once. 
But  at  last  his  hour  seemed  to  have  arrived. 
Racked  with  pain  and  unable  to  take  food  or  medi- 
cine, this  man,  who  had  overcome  every  other 
obstacle  in  life  by  sheer  will  power,  seemed  yielding 
before  the  Universal  Reaper.  Friends  and  relatives 
were  gatherd  at  his  bedside.  So  weak  had  he  be- 
come that  every  breath  was  now  fanned  into  his 
nostrils  by  some  loving  hand.  Dissolution  was 
momentarily  exi>ected  when,  to  the  surprise  of  all, 
he  rallied.  Some  said,  ''It  is  the  final  struggle 
before  the  gping,"  but  instead  of  that  he  continued 
to  improve.  Soon  food  and  medicine  were  accept- 
able and  the  man  rose  from  his  bed  and  lived  an 
active  life  for  many  years.  In  conversation  with 
him  almost  immediately  after  the  first  rally  I  asked 
him  what  had  brought  about  the  change.  "\\'ell," 
said  he,  "after  I  had  been  allowed  to  stay  so  long, 
and  when  I  heard  how  sorrowful  mother  and  the 
children  were  at  the  thought  of  my  going,  and  when 
I  realized  thajt  death  was  near  and  I  had  never  done 
much  for  God,  I  concluded  that  God  must  still  have 
some  work  for  me  to  do  in  the  world  and  so*  I  de- 
cided to  get  well  and  I'm  progressing  finely!"  What 
medicine  could  not  do,  what  all  the  skill  of  trained 

189 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

physicians  could  not  do,  Decision  gloriously  accom- 
plished in  the  life  of  this  servant  of  God. 

Tell  me  not,  in  view  of  these  facts,  that  if  God 
meant  that  you  should  be  great  he  would  have  given 
you  more  strength.  He  most  often  chooses  the  weak 
things  of  the  world  to  confound  the  mighty.  A 
weak  body,  backed  up  by  the  power  of  decision  and 
determination,  will  do  more  for  the  betterment  of 
mankind  than  the  strength  of  a  Samson  with  no 
determining  will  behind  it. 

It  may  be  said,  further,  that  the  simple  passing 
of  much  time  has  little  to  do  with  progress.  Three- 
score years  and  ten  would  leave  a  person  a  physical 
infant  and  a  mental  blank  if  there  were  no  decisions 
of  the  will  toward  development.  Man  often  pro- 
gresses more  in  a  single  hour  or  a  single  day  than 
in  a  previous  decade.  Better  one  clear-cut  decision, 
made  in  a  moment,  looking  toward  a  larger  growth, 
than  ten  years  of  drifting  through  the  routine  duties 
of  daily  life.  Progress  is  in  direct  proportion  to 
the  number  and  definiteness  of  the  decisions  we  are 
faithfully  carrying  out. 

''Very  early,"  said  Margaret  Euller,  'T  perceived 
that  the  object  of  life  is  to  grow."  Commenting 
upon  this  remark  and  upon  herself,  James  Ereeman 
Clarke  says  :  "She.  herself,  was  a  remarkable  instance 
of  the  power  of  the  human  being  to  go  forward  and 
upward.  Of  her  it  might  be  said  as  Goethe  said 
of  Schiller,    Tf  I  did  not  see  him  for  a  fortnight  I 

190 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

was  astonished  to  find  what  progress  he  had  made 
in  the  interim.'  " 

Psychologists  tell  ns  that  in  every  act  of  the 
normal  will  there  are  three  distinct  elements — 
motive,  choice  and  volition.  In  the  simple  act  of 
making  a  gesture  all  these  have  a  part.  First  there 
is  something  to  be  done.  This  furnishes  a  motive. 
The  mind  recognizes  the  need  and  immediately  de- 
termines to  meet  it,  but  in  what  way?  Several  of 
differing  degrees  of  appropriateness  suggest  them- 
selves. There  must  be  a  choice  between  them. 
Finally  the  mind  decides  that  it  shall  be  a  right- 
hand  gesture.  It  now  remains  that  the  volition  be 
carried  out — that  work  be  actually  done.  Motive, 
Choice,  Volition.  The  process  is  simple  and  uncon- 
sciously followed.  The  difficulty  lies  not  here  but  in 
the  painful  fact  that  all  too  few  minds  ever  enter 
determinedly  upon  the  work  of  willing.  Some  fail 
to  see  the  need  and  so  are  not  moved  to  meet  it. 
Many  see  the  need,  the  motive  is  sufficient — but 
through  indifference  fail  to  determine  to  meet  it. 
While  still  others  see  the  need — choose  between  the 
various  ways  of  meeting  it  and  fail  in  the  last 
element,  the  carrying  out  of  the  volition. 

All  of  these  are  they  who  are  standing  still — 
mere  promontories  upon  the  landscape,  while  the 
great  stream  of  men  and  women  who  are  hurrying 
to  carry  out  their  decisions  rush  past  them  as  a 
swiftly  flowing  river.  A  huge  bowlder  retaining  its 
position  merely  by  virtue  of  its  ponderous  weight 

191 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

sees  little — the  same  view  every  day.  But  the  water 
ill  that  river  has  already  traveled  a  thousand  miles 
and  will  travel  a  thousand  more  before  it  reaches 
the  ocean.  With  every  moment  a  new  scene  has 
opened  to  its  view.  It  has  flowed  past  cities,  past 
farms,  past  hamlets.  It  has  seen  a  thousand  oppor- 
tunities to  advance  the  interests  of  man  and  bring 
joy  and  gladness  into  the  world.  Here  it  flowed 
over  a  mill  wheel  and  gave  wealth  arid  health  to 
man;  here  it  laved  the  roots  of  a  mighty  tree  that 
had  grown  upon  its  hospitable  banks  and  the  tree 
gave  denser  shade  and  more  beauty  to  the  land- 
scape. Yonder  it  laughed  and  rippled  and  gave  to 
a  poet  a  theme  for  his  song  which  shall  long  cheer 
■  the  hearts  of  men — from  source  to  ocean  this  happy 
progressive  river  sees  and  takes  advantage  of  a 
thousand  opportunities  to  better  a  needy  world. 

The  people  who  stand  still  are  bowlders.  To  see 
them  you  must  go  where  they  are.  They  see  no 
need  for  activity  because  they  move  not  among  the 
people  who  have  needs — mere  cumberers  of  the 
ground  that  must  be  cast  out  before  the  husband- 
man can  till  his  field.  The  people  who  progress  are 
as  the  water  of  the  river.  In  their  swift  course 
from  infancy  to  age  they  are  ever  passing  new 
scenes  and  discovering  new  ways  of  helping  man- 
kind. They  bring  prosperity,  they  give  health  and 
life,  they  cheer,  they  inspire  and  the  world  is  better 
for  their  having  lived. 

If,  now,  some  one  should  put  the  question,  ''How 
192 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

may  I,  who  have  been  standing  still,  begin  to  pro- 
gress? How  may  I,  who  have  been  a  cumbering 
bowlder,  become  a  life  and  joy-giving  river?"  I 
answer  you  gladly,  ''By  deciding  to  do  so."  Defi- 
nitely, positively  decide  to  progress  and  then  bend 
every  energy  toward  the  carrying  out  of  that 
decision.  There  are  no  insurmountable  obstacles 
in  America  to  prevent  men  from  progressing.  If 
you  are  not  doing  so  be  assured  the  blame  rests 
entirely  upon  your  own  shoulders.  Replying  to  the 
complaint  of  a  young  man  that  he  had  no  money 
and  therefore  could  not  go  to  college,  David  Starr 
Jordan,  president  of  Leland  Stanford  University, 
said  tersely: 

This  is  nonsense!  If  you  have  health  and  strength  and  no 
one  dependent  upon  you,  you  cannot  be  poor.  There  is  in 
this  country  no  greater  good  luck  that  a  young  man  can  have 
than  to  be  thrown  on  his  own  resources.  The  cards  are 
stacked  against  the  rich  man's  son.  Of  the  many  college  men 
who  have  risen  to  prominence  in  my  day  very  few  did  not 
lack  for  money  in  college.  The  young  men  who  have  fought 
their  way,  have  earned  their  own  money  and  know  what  a 
dollar  costs,  have  the  advantage  of  the  rich.  They  enter  the 
world  outside  with  no  luxurious  habits,  with  no  taste  for 
idleness.  It  is  not  worth  while  to  be  born  with  a  silver  spoon 
in  your  mouth  when  a  little  effort  will  secure  you  a  gold 
one.  The  time,  the  money  the  unambitious  young  man 
wastes  in  trifling  pursuits  or  in  absolute  idleness  will  suffice 
to  give  the  ambitous  man  his  education.  The  rich  man's  son 
may  enter  college  with  better  preparation  than  you;  he  may 
wear  better  clothes ;  he  may  be  graduated  younger ;  but  the 
poor  man's  son  can  make  up  for  lost  time  by  greater  energy 
and  by  the  greater  clearness  of  his  grit.     He  steps  from  the 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

commencement  stage  into  no  uncertain  world.  He  has  already 
measured  swords  with  the  great  antagonist  and  the  first 
victory  is  his.  It  is  the  first  struggle  that  counts.  But,  he 
adds,  it  is  not  poverty  that  helps  a  man.  There  is  no  virtue 
in  poor  food  or  shabby  clothing.  It  is  the  effort  by  which 
he  throws  off  the  yoke  of  poverty  that  enlarges  the  powers. 
It  is  not  hard  work,  but  work  to  a  purpose  that  frees  the 
soul. 

Then,  fearing  the  charge  of  stating  untried 
theories.   Dr.  Jordan  continues : 

Do  not  say  that  I  am  expecting  too  much  of  the  effects  of 
a  firm  resolution,  that  I  give  you  advice  which  will  lead  you 
to  failure ;  for  the  man  who  will  fail  will  never  make  a 
resolution. 

From  this  clear  illustration  from  so  high  an 
authority  we  may  see  that  whatever  worthy  ambi- 
tion, within  the  possibilities  of  human  attainment 
there  may  be  before  you,  may  be  largely  realized  if 
you  firmly,  positively,  with  consent  of  all  your 
present  faculties,  determine  that  you  will  accom- 
plish it. 

After  the  first  firm  positive  decision  to  progress 
has  been  made  there  is  indeed  much  to  be  done. 
When  the  water  in  a  mountain  spring  decides  to 
flow  to  the  ocean  it  would  never  leave  its  stony 
cradle  if  it  did  not  begin  at  once  to  adjust  itself  to 
new  conditions.  Now  it  must  flow  swiftly  over 
jagged,  heartless  rocks,  now  it  must  flow  slowly 
along  a  nearly  level  plain,  now  shoot  a  dangerous 
rapid,  now  plunge  over  a  lofty  precipice,  all  the  time 
adjusting  itself  to  new  conditions  and  requirements 

194 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

but,  having-  once  decided  to  flow  to  the  ocean,  these 
changes  are  but  trifles,  but  working  out  the  details 
of  a  rare  accomplishment:.  So  the  life  that  decides 
to  start  toward  success  must  be  ready  to  make  a 
thousand  other  decisions  that  will  help  on  the 
progress.  Here  an  important  point  must  be  yielded, 
there  a  stand  must  be  taken,  now  you  must  go 
swiftly  but  anon  your  pace  must  be  slackened,  all 
the  time  you  must  be  able  and  gladly  willing  to 
adjust  yourself  to  new  conditions  that  your  great, 
shining  goal  may  be  attained. 

It  is  a  small  thing  for  a  hare  to  turn  a  corner 
if  by  so  doing  he  escape  the  jaws  of  the  fast  pur- 
suing hound.  It  is  a  small  thing  for  a  young  man 
to  give  up  a  habit  if  by  so  doing  he  escape  the 
devouring  jaws  of  oblivion.  You  may  say  it  is 
not  wrong  f-or  you  to  smoke  a  cigarette  but,  if  it 
makes  your  hand  too  shaky  to  wield  properly  the 
pen  to-morrow  it  is  standing  like  a  stone  wall  in 
front  of  your  progress.  You  may  say  it  is  not 
wrong  for  you  to  enjoy  social  life,  to  stay  out  late 
at  night  and  indulge  in  fatiguing  pastimes  and  eat 
late  suppers,  but  if  doing  sO'  robs  you  of  proper 
rest,  beclouds  your  brain,  weakens  your  power,  the 
current  of  your  progress  will  flow  slowly  indeed, 
and  if  you  watch  not  will  soon  become  a  stagnant 
pool.  Once  having  decided  to  attain  a  ground,  to 
win  a  victory,  be  willing  to  decide  all  minor  matters 
in  such  a  way  as  that  they  will  do  most  to  help 
you  achieve  your  coveted  victory. 

195 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

Toward  what  shall  our  first  great  decision  look? 
Upon  this  will  depend  the  whole  trend  of  our  lives. 
Falling  on  one  side  of  a  promontory  on  the  border 
between  the  United  States  and  Canada  a  drop  of 
water  will  enter  the  St.  Law^rence  and  flow  eastward 
tow^ard  the  Atlantic  Ocean ;  falling  on  the  other  side 
of  the  same  promontory  another  drop  will  enter  the 
Mississippi  and  flow  southward  to  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico. 

Deciding  to  accomplish  selfish  ends,  one  man 
may  go  on  until  he  becomes  as  rich  as  Dives — and 
as  cursed.  Deciding  to  accomplish  higher  ends  for 
the  betterment  of  man,  one  may  go  on  until  he  be 
as  wealthy  in  service  as  Paul — and  as  blessed. 

The  decision  of  the  prodigal  is  the  ''priceless 
decision" :  'T  will  arise  and  go  to  my  father." 
Would  that  this  might  be  the  "supreme  decision" 
of  every  man  and  woman  in  the  world.  The  poor, 
hapless,  worthless,  young  vagabond  did  not  decide 
to  "arise  and  go  toward  wealth"  nor  to  "arise  and 
go  toward  fame,"  nor  to  "arise  and  go  toward 
personal  happiness,"  but  "I  will  arise  and  go  to  my 
father,"  and  all  these  things  were  added  unto  him. 
Taking  their  portion  of  the  Father's  goods, — of 
w^ealth,  of  faculty,  of  opportunity, — many  men  have 
wandered  far  from  the  Father's  house  and  wasted 
their  substance  in  riotous  and  worse  than  useless 
living.  The  fair  image  with  which  they  started, 
the  rich  inheritance  of  noble  birth,  is  marred  beyond 
recognition  by  the  thriftless,  debasing  life  they  have 

196 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

been  living.  For  them,  for  us,  for  all  men  every- 
where, the  first  great  sweeping  decision  to  make  is 
"I  will  arise  and  go  to  my  father."  Knowing  of 
this,  the  great  Father's  heart  will  leap  for  joy,  and 
"while  we  are  yet  afar  off"  he  will  come  out  to 
meet  us  with  the  best  robe  and  ring  and  falling 
upon  our  necks  will  give  us  the  kiss  of  joy  and 
welcome.  Call  now  the  neighbors  in,  kill  now  the 
fatted  calf,  provide  education,  provide  wealth,  pro- 
vide happiness,  ''for  this  my  son  was  dead,  and  is 
alive  again;  was  lost,  and  is  found." 


197 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 


Chapter  Fourteen 

THE  TIME  LIMIT  ON  CLIRISTIAN 
PROGRESS 

The  perfection  of  God  himself  is  set  oefore  man 
as  an  attainment  entirely  possible  for  him.  The 
thought  fairly  staggers  the  human  mind.  From 
the  summit  of  the  delectable  mountains  of  revelation 
shines  his  ineffable  glory.  He  is  infinite,  eternal 
and  unchangeable  in  his  being,  wisdom,  power,  holi- 
ness, justice,  goodness  and  truth.  Not  only  so,  but 
his  heart  is  a  heart  of  love  and  he  yearns  over  his 
earthly  children  as  a  mother  over  her  first-born. 
What  can  the  Saviour  mean  when  he  commands  us 
to  be  like  him ?  to  be  perfect  as  he  is  perfect? 

This  cannot  mean  that  we  are  called  to  equal  God 
in  understanding  or  in  achievement,  and  so  it  must 
mean  that  in  the  development  within  us  of  qualities 
that  are  godlike,  purity,  sympathy,  love,  forgive- 
ness, we  shall  reach  perfection  to  the  measure  of 
human  possibility;  perfect  in  our  place  as  our 
heavenly  Father  is  perfect  in  his. 

No  man  should  pale  before  this  call  because  it 
is  difficult;  he  should  be  stimulated  by  it  to  the 
utmost  endeavor  because  of  its  magnificence.     To 

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PROGRESS   IN   CHRISTIAN   CULTURE 

be  godlike  in  personal  purity,  in  the  exercise  of 
love,  sympathy,  forgiveness,  were  an  accomplish- 
ment beside  which  all  others  sink  into  insignificance. 
God  measures  man  by  character,  not  by  earthly 
accomplishment.  Therefore  equal,  surpass  if  you 
can,  other  men  in  achievement,  but  strive  to  equal 
God  in  character. 

How  great  a  thing  it  is  that  God  has  willed  this 
boon  for  us !  How  amazing  that  he  should  make 
it  easier  for  us  to  attain  perfection  in  character 
than  to  achieve  any  other  thing!  How  mar\'elous 
that  all  his  instructions  should  have  been  supple- 
mented by  an  example  in  human  flesh,  putting  the 
fact  of  human  perfection  beyond  all  question  and 
making  it  easy  for  us  to  understand  and  apply  his 
revelation !  How  stimulating  that,  as  it  were,  from 
the  walls  of  .Zion  he  should  call  out  to  all  men :  ''My 
children,  I  am  watching  you.  I  would  have  you 
grow  strong  and  rich  in  learning  and  character  for 
your  own  good  until  you  attain  vinto  the  measure 
of  the  stature  of  the  fullness  of  my  Son." 

Before  the  great  Torso  in  the  Vatican  galleries 
at  Rome,  the  marble  that  taught  ]\Iichelangelo 
to  be  a  sculptor,  masters  still  take  their  pupils.  The 
perfection  of  the  whole  is  pointed  out.  It  is  turned 
about  on  its  movable  pedestal  that  every  line  and 
curve  may  be  seen  to  best  advantage,  and  when 
the  eye  has  gathered  all  there  is  for  it  the  delicate 
fingers  of  those  quick  students  finally  touch  the 
marble  itself.     Through  sensitive  nerves  there  flows 

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PROGRESS    IN   CHRISTIAN   CULTURE 

to  the  brains  of  eager  souls  new  perfections  until, 
when  with  reluctance  they  move  away,  it  is  only  to 
go  back  to  their  studios  and  more  nearly  approach 
in  their  creations  the  perfection  of  the  greatest 
marble  in  Rome. 

Similarly  God  would  have  us  study  the  perfection 
of  Jesus  very  closely.  He  is  the  great  example. 
If  we  will  live  as  he  did  we  will  satisfy  God  wholly. 
First,  we  are  to  see  him  as  a  fact  of  history,  mighty, 
pivotal,  central;  the  God-man  whose  character  and 
whose  work  forever  changed  the  course  of  human 
events  and  made  possible  the  redemption  of  a  re- 
bellious and  selfish  people.  Then  we  are  to  listen 
to  his  words  and  give  consideration  to  his  teaching. 
When  such  a  character  speaks,  it  is  with  authority, 
and  all  men  should  hear  and  heed.  His  words  are 
golden  and  hold  for  men  the  riches  of  life.  Then 
we  are  to  begin  to  exercise  his  virtues ;  to  feel  with 
him  the  needs  of  men,  the  distress  of  the  sorrow- 
ing, the  joy  of  the  victorious. 

Having  seen  and  dwelt  upon  the  perfection  of 
Jesus,  we  are  called  to  bring  our  own  life  structure 
up  to  the  Saviour's  standards  and  walk  with  him 
in  the  holiness  of  God.  Surely  God  has  paid  man 
no  higher  compliment  than  this,  that  he  counted  us 
worthy  to  walk  with  him  in  perfection  of  character! 
Perhaps  now  we  can  better  understand  the  Psalmist 
when  he  cried : 

For  thou  hast  made  him  but  httle  lower  than  God, 
And  crownest  him  with  glory  and  honor. 
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PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

In  view  of  all  this  stimulation,  this  gracious  and 
abundant  assistance,  it  is  disappointing  that  man's 
progress  toward  perfection  in  character  is  so  pain- 
fully slow,  that  in  some  generations  he  seems 
actually  to  slip  backward  more  than  he  moves  for- 
ward; that  in  spite  of  the  glory  of  righteous  living 
there  are  still  many  men  who  love  *'the  darkness 
rather  than  the  light,"  who  make  no  attempt  to 
attain  unto  the  perfection  of  character  revealed  as 
a  possibility  in  Jesus  Christ. 

By  no  means  can  all  of  this  failure  be  laid  at 
the  door  of  ignorance.  The  heathen  world  is  not 
alone  in  sin.  The  first  page  of  a  single  issue  of  a 
cosmopolitan  daily  newspaper  a  few  months  ago 
told  of  a  college  professor  on  trial  for  the  murder 
of  his  wife;  of  the  president  of  a  great  state  educa- 
tional assoxriation  being  sent  to  the  penitentiary  for 
misappropriation  of  funds;  of  three  lea.ding  New 
York  bank  officials  who  had  been  given  long  prison 
terms  for  wrecking  their  institution  by  self-benefit- 
ing high-fin^-nce.  It  cannot  be  laid  at  the  door  of 
ignorance  of  the  call  to  higher  life  or  how  to  meet 
it  that  otherwise  good  people  will  nurse  misunder- 
sta^ndings  to  the  point  of  family  or  neighborhood 
feuds  often  simply  for  the  satisfying  of  a  little 
wounded  pride;  that  some  cherish  hatred  against 
their  neighbor  u-ntil  that  hatred  reacts  upon  them- 
selves, ruining  their  disposition  and  preventing  char- 
acter development.  Their  action  is  like  that  of  a 
species  of  serpent  that,  finding  itself  in  an  unbear- 

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PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

able,  situation,  will  suddenly  turn  and  sting  itself  to 
death;  men  are  not  ignorant  when  they  vote  to 
sustain  institutions  whose  harmful  influence  is  uni- 
versally confessed  and  which  stand  like  yawning 
gulfs  before  our  easily  influenced  boys  and  girls. 

No !  Indiffer'ence  has  drawn  a  veil  over  our  eyes 
and  selfish  lusts  have  dulled  ou-r  consciences;  the 
clink  of  money  has  filled  our  ears  and  slavish  fear 
has  sealed  our  lips  and  we  creep  along  mere  pygmies 
in  character  when  God  intended  us  to  be  giants! 
We  wade  in  mire  up  to  our  knees  when  God  in- 
tended us  to  walk  upon  streets  paved  with  gold! 
Why  are  we  willing  to  do  it  ? 

We  are  all  very  sure  that  before  it  is  too  late  we 
are  going  to  reform.  We  know  this  evil  living  is 
ignoble;  that  it  is  unworthy.  Without  saying  it  in 
words,  our  feeling  is  that  as  soon  as  we  have  in- 
dulged ourselves  a  little  more  or  gained  a  little 
more  money  by  unholy  practices  we  are  going  to 
stop ;  we  are  going  to  reform ;  w^e  are  going  to  turn 
from  our  sin  and  evil  way  and  live  righteously.  It 
is  going  to  be  a  glorious  transformation.  We  have 
seen  dull,  rusty  iron  cast  into  the  furnace,  its  dross 
all  consumed,  and  when  the  vent  is  opened  we 
have  seen  it  flow  forth  a  glistening,  glowing  stream. 
The  change  in  our  life  is  to  be  like  that.  It  will 
be  instantly  noticeable  to  the  whole  world. 

It  is  the  business  of  the  messengers  of  Jehovah 
to  stand  upon  the  walls  of  Zion  and  as  they  call  men 
to   repentance   and   righteous   living    remind   them 

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PROGRESS   IN   CHRISTIAN   CULTURE 

that  there  is  a  time  limit  on  Christian  progress. 
Even  the  earthly  life  of  Jesus  could  not  go  on 
forever.  When,  after  his  triumphant  entry  into 
Jerusalem,  certain  Greeks  asked  to  see  him,  Jesus 
realized  that  the  beginning  of  the  end  had  come. 
It  precipitated  a  discussion  concerning  his  earthly 
life,  "We  have  heard  out  of  the  law  that  the  Christ 
abideth  for  ever ;  and  how  sayest  thou,  The  Son  of 
man  must  be  lifted  up?  who  is  this  Son  of  man?" 
Then  said  Jesus  in  substance:  Is  it  possible  that 
even  yet  you  do  not  understand?  I  came  as  God's 
truth  incarnate.  Have  you  not  seen  this  from  the 
life  I  have  lived  and  the  words  I  have  spoken? 
Have  these  not  drawn  you  to  a  higher  life?  I  can- 
not stay  with  you  always.  Learn  fast.  "Yet  a 
little  while  is  the  light  among  you.  Walk  while  ye 
have  the  light,  that  darkness  overtake  you  not." 

From  this  appeal  of  Jesus  let  us  learn. 

First :  That  we  do  not  know  how  long  the  oppor- 
tunity to  correct  our  way  of  life  and  to  make  our 
peace  with  God  will  be  granted  us.  Nothing  is 
more  sure  than  that  our  tenure  of  life  is  uncertain. 
How  many  men  who  go  to  their  couch  at  night  in 
perfect  health  are  found  by  their  families  in  the 
morning  wrapped  in  the  arms  of  eternal  sleep !  A 
short  time  ago  a  happy  company  of  seven  were 
reveling  in  the  beauties  of  southern  California  in  a 
touring  car.  Starting  to  descend  a  foothill  the 
brakes  on  the  machine  refused  to  hold.  Faster  and 
faster  sped  the  huge  monster  with  its  precious  and 

203 


PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

now  terrified  load.  The  young  girl  at  the  wheel  tried 
every  expedient  but  all  to  no  avail.  Like  a  demon 
determined  upon  vengeance,  the  huge  machine  flew 
forward  until,  reaching  a  sharp  bend  in  the  steep 
decline,  it  plunged  over  the  embankment,  down  a 
hundred  feet  into  the  ravine,  pinning  to  instant  death 
the  company  that  five  minutes  before  were  so  happy. 
We  are  sure  of  no  moment  but  the  present  and 
should  not  leave  vital  things  to  be  attended  in  a 
future  on  which  we  have  no  sure  hold. 

Second:  But  if  life  itself  is  uncertain  we  must 
not  shut  our  minds  to  the  inevitable  darkness  of 
failing  powers.  Under  the  stress  of  heavy  labor  or 
sorrow,  or  following  close  upon  some  crisis,  our 
faculties  sway  and  sometimes  yield.  We  are  never 
the  same  again.  A  rich  man  in  central  Illinois  spent 
a  long  life  in  the  accumulation  of  a  vast  fortune. 
He  always  had  spiritual  aspirations,  but  inasmuch 
as  his  business  methods. were  not  Christian  he  kept 
crushing  his  higher  life  down,  saying  that  when  he 
had  made  a  fortune  he  would  give  himself  to 
religion.  The  time  finally  came  when  he  was  forced 
to  release  his  hold  on  financial  affairs.  He  began  to 
attend  religious  services  regularly  but  foun'd  no 
satisfaction.  Spiritual  things  were  an  enigma  to 
him.  He  had  no  faculty  with  which  to  grasp  and 
understand  them.  The  body,  which  he  had  fed  and 
pampered  for  threescore  years  and  ten,  demanded  a 
continuance  of  the  same  attention.  The  mind,  ad- 
justed   to    material    things,    could    not   grasp   and 

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PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN   CULTURE 

assimilate  the  things  of  the  soul.  No  more  pathetic 
picture  could  be  imagined  than  this  rich  old  man 
grasping  in  the  dark  for  spiritual  blessings  and 
comfort  which  his  lifelong  selfish  practices  had 
rendered  his  faculties  incapable  of  grasping  or  en- 
joying. I  wonder  if  many  others  are  not  making 
the  same  mistake. 

The  vital  mistake  men  make  is  in  putting  these 
intended  transformations  off  too  long.  In  the  early 
days  of  Nebraska,  before  the  state  was  thickly 
populated,  four  youths  left  home  for  a  winter's  holi- 
day with  a  neighboring  family  some  two  hours 
distant.  In  gay  spirits  they  tramped  the  distance 
in  the  morning  over  prairies  innocent  of  fence 
or  well-marked  roadway.  The  day  was  spent  in 
fun  and  frolic.  By  mid-afternoon  clouds  covered 
the  sky  and,  snow  threatened.  The  wiser  heads  in 
the  company  proposed  that  they  start  home  at  once, 
but  the  less  thoughtful  scoffed  at  the  idea  and  pro- 
posed fresh  games.  Gently  the  snow  began  to  fall. 
In  an  hour  all  roads  were  covered  and  the  shades 
of  evening  began  to  fall.  Alarmed,  the  youths  now 
made  ready  to  start  for  home.  Their  friends  tried 
to  prevail  upon  them  to  wait  until  morning,  but 
they  said  it  was  impossible.  So  out  upon  the  plains 
in  the  fast  gathering  darkness  they  sped,  sure  they 
would  be  able  to  reach  home  in  safety.  Soon  the 
wind  rose  and  the  youths  found  themselves  facing 
a  raging  blizzard.  At  midnight  they  knew  they 
were  lost  and  tried  to  find  their  way  back,  but  the 

205 


PROGRESS    IN   CHRISTIAN   CULTURE 

snow  had  obliterated  every  trace  and  they  could  find 
no  familiar  object.  The  cold  benumbed  them.  One 
after  another  they  sank  down  while  the  stronger 
tried  to  arouse  the  weaker  to  further  effort.  At 
last  all  failed  and,  huddling  together,  in  the  awful 
blast  they  clung  to  each  other  until  frozen  in  a  rigid 
embrace.  Their  delay  had  cost  them  their  lives, 
though  they  were  never  more  than  two  hours  away 
from  home  and  friends. 

Hundreds  of  good  men  are  but  a  step  from  the 
kingdom.  They  do  not  mean  to  be  lost.  They  are 
keeping  their  lives  well  within  the  lines  of  respect- 
ability. Many  of  them  are  good,  moral  men.  They 
know  that  morality  and  respectability  will  not  save 
their  souls,  and  they  have  definitely  determined  to 
soon  take  the  final  step  by  a  public  confession  of 
Christ  and  so  do  the  thing  God  asks  all  men  to  do 
to  secure  spiritual  birth.  If  any  such  be  reading 
this  paragraph  I  cry  out  to  you,  in  the  name  of  all 
that  is  holy,  what  are  you  waiting  for?  If  this 
thing  is  necessary  at  all  it  is  vital.  What  more 
convenient  season  can  there  ever  be  than  the  present, 
when  all  your  powers  are  normal  and  when  the 
invitation  to  action  is  frequently  and  urgently 
sounded  in  your  ears  ? 

Third :  But  to  these  obvious  things  urging  us  to 
action,  which  a  man  may  see  by  merely  opening  his 
eyes,  there  is  another  even  more  startling  and  com- 
pelling. In  the  early  days  w^hen  God  saw  that  men 
were  neglectful  of  their  higher  privilege  and  re- 

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PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

fused  to  respond  to  his  calls  he  said :  "My  Spirit 
shall  not  strive  with  man."  What  does  this 
mean?  Clearly  that  God  at  last  accepts  man's  re- 
jection of  his  call  to  nobler  life  as  final  and  the 
voice  of  his  spirit  no  longer  reaches  the  centers  of 
his  life.  Impulses  to  righteousness  pass  by.  The 
inner  life  ceases  after  a  w^hile  to  urge  men  to 
righteousness  and  they  are  allowed  to  fall  to  the 
levels  they  have  chosen.  I  plead  with  you  to  respond 
to  these  calls  while  they  are  sounding  in  your  ear. 
They  will  stop  some  day  and  possibly  before  you 
have  made  the  corrections  needed  in  your  life  to 
save  you. 

Every  observing  man  has  lifted  his  eyes  to  see 
the  ceaseless  working  of  one  of  nature's  greatest 
laws,  "Every  power  that  is  not  used  is  taken 
away" — and  to  see  no  less,  in  the  life  of  man,  that 
opportunities  not  taken  suddenly  cease  to  exist.  God 
has  made  it  easy  for  man  to  build  a  noble  character. 
The  way  is  clearly  indicated,  the  opportunities  are 
numberless,  the  impulses  to  do  the  right  thing  in 
any  given  instance  are  strong.  Upon  every  man's 
pathway  to  holiness  God  has  thrown  a  flood  of 
light. 

A  tiny  dory  was  one  dark  night  feeling  its  way 
out  through  the  rocks  of  a  dangerous  harbor  to  a 
great  sea-going  vessel  in  the  roadstead.  Two 
anxious  hearts  were  rowing.  Success  meant  that  a 
lonely  man  should  join  friends  from  whom  he  had 
been  separated   for  months  and  go  on  with  them 

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PROGRESS    IN    CHRISTIAN    CULTURE 

for  a  happy  journey.  But  jagged  rocks  were  nu- 
merous, the  night  was  dark  and  the  sea  high.  All 
at  once  a  fortunate  thing  occurred.  Anticipating 
that  some  such  thing  might  be  attempted,  the  captain 
of  the  vessel  ordered  the  searchlight  to  play  over 
the  harbor.  In  a  moment  the  struggling  dory  was 
sighted  and  from  this  time  on  a  flood  of  light  made 
its  journey  through  the  rocks  easy. 

Similarly,  on  the  roadway  leading  to  the  city  of 
the  soul,  God  has  shed  the  light  of  his  own  revela- 
tion. Men  stumbled  once  because  they  could  not 
see  the  way,  but  they  need  do  so  no  more.  The 
way  is  clear  and  plain.  Every  man  who  wills  may 
find  it  and  walk  in  it.  To  the  men  and  women 
already  in  the  Christian  church  the  appeal  is  made. 
Will  you  not  rise  up  to  the  expectation  of  your 
Lord?  More  eagerly  than  any  earthly  parent  he 
wants  his  offspring  to  be  giants.  To  make  this 
possible  he  has  given  us  bodies  that  rebel  against 
all  abuse  and  call  for  health,  minds  that  aspire  to 
fullest  understanding,  souls  that,  at  least  at  frequent 
intervals,  yearn  after  spiritual  perfection  and  satis- 
faction. The  man  who  does  not  rise  has  loaded 
himself  down  with  log-chains  of  inactivity,  with 
dead  weights  of  self-indulgence.  If  a  man  is  not 
going  onward  toward  God  it  is  because  he  is  allow- 
ing his  pampered  body  to  stand  in  the  way  of  his 
aspiring  soul. 

But  I  have  said  enough.  Few  Christians  who 
read  these  pages  need  to  be  instructed.     They  know 

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PROGRESS   IN   CHRISTIAN   CULTURE 

what  is  right  already.  They  need  only  to  be 
aroused.  Let  your  soul  have  its  chance.  It  is  the 
soul  that  endures.  Its  richness  and  insight  must 
have  an  influence  on  the  degree  of  man's  felicity 
and  further  progress  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven. 
Be  the  spiritual  giant  your  Creator  intended  you  to 
be,  and  above  all  things  make  progress  while  ye 
have  the  light,  lest  darkness  come  upon  you. 


209 


